Betagro Ventures Partners with Allies to Back BiomEdit’s Groundbreaking Poultry Bacteria Product in Series B Round

Through its venture arm, Betagro Ventures, Betagro Public Company (BTG), an integrated food company in Thailand, has joined forces with international partners to invest $18.4 million in BiomEdit, a U.S.-based animal health biotechnology company, in its Series B round.

BiomEdit has successfully closed its Series B financing, led by Anterra Capital, with follow-on investment from Nutreco, according to a statement released by BTG on Monday.

Together with AgriZeroNZ and Elevate Ventures from Indiana, Betagro Ventures was one of the new investors in this oversubscribed round ($18.4 million), which provided enough money to support BiomEdit through conditional licensure and BE-101’s commercial launch.

The investment will help BE-101, BiomEdit’s top candidate for reducing broiler chicken mortality from necrotic enteritis (NE), with the aim of enhancing poultry production efficiency in a sustainable manner.

BE-101, which will be marketed as “OptavantTM” after receiving full licensure, is the first probiotic vectored antibody (pvAbTM) product of its kind and is intended to assist poultry producers in preventing necrotic enteritis in poultry by neutralizing the toxins produced by Clostridium perfringens.

The disease that these toxins primarily cause, which results in an estimated $6 billion in global losses each year due to decreased productivity, illness, and mortality, can be addressed in a novel way with this non-antibiotic solution.

The product is scheduled for commercial launch in 2026 and is presently in the last stages of the conditional licensure process administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

“We are proud to support BiomEdit in advancing its cutting-edge biologics platform and bringing a first-of-its-kind animal health solution to market,

“This partnership underscores our commitment to innovation-driven solutions that proactively address new challenges posed by animal disease outbreaks, effectively serve market needs, thereby enhancing animal health, boosting productivity across the livestock industry, and growing the overall industry sustainably,” said Chayadhorn Taepaisitphongse, President – Animal Nutrition & New Ventures of Betagro.

“Furthermore, this collaboration will provide us with access to leading advancements in novel feed and animal health products, acting as a catalyst for co-developing innovative solutions for the future,” he added.

“This is an exciting chapter for BiomEdit. We are bringing a transformational poultry solution to U.S. broiler producers and pushing the frontiers of sustainable livestock production.

“In just three years since our founding, we are poised to deliver products to market, bolstered by new financing and investor support, including Betagro Ventures, and well-suited for the opportunities and challenges ahead,” said Aaron Schacht, Chief Executive Officer of BiomEdit.