BiomeBank
Adelaide, AU Β· 39 employees on LinkedIn Β· 2 known investors
BiomeBank develops microbiome-based therapies aimed at restoring the gut microbial ecosystem, with a focus on conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease and Clostridioides difficile infection. The company operates a cGMP manufacturing facility in Adelaide and works with academic and hospital research partners on drug discovery and clinical development.
Also known as BiomeBank Pty Ltd
Founders & leadership
Investors Β· 2
Company profile
researched Aug 2026BiomeBank is an Adelaide-based clinical-stage biotechnology company developing microbiome-based therapies intended to treat and prevent disease by restoring gut microbial ecology. Its marketed product, BIOMICTRA, is a donor-derived faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) therapy launched in 2022 and described by the company as the world's first microbiome-based therapy regulated as a biological; it is listed on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods as a Class 2 donor-derived microbiome therapy and is supplied in a frozen syringe-based formulation for colonoscopy and enema delivery to hospitals and clinics across Australia. A capsule formulation, LYOMICTRA, is in registration with availability expected in 2026/27.
The company's second-generation work centres on CONSORTIOME, a proprietary co-culturing platform that generates an artificial human gut microbial community in a bioreactor rather than from human donors. The company states the consortium represents more than 90% of the gene families identified in a healthy donor metagenome (1,775 gene families annotated using the NCBI COG database) and is supported by a culture collection of over 35,000 bacterial isolates and 900 species. The lead pipeline candidate, BB265, is a 100-species co-cultured consortium for ulcerative colitis described as Phase 1b/2a-ready with GMP manufacture demonstrated at 200L scale and an FDA-accepted release strategy, expected to enter human trials in 2027. The company also cites potential applications in immunity, metabolism, neurology, oncology, liver disease, infection control and cardiovascular health.
Operations are based in a purpose-built cGMP manufacturing facility with an adjoining R&D laboratory and offices in Adelaide's biomedical precinct, opened in November 2023. Earlier operations included Australia's first public stool bank, with an expanded laboratory in Thebarton, Adelaide, and a donor program that paid screened donors.
Founding story
Co-founder Sam Costello, a gastroenterologist trained at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Australia and St Mark's Hospital in the UK, first established a stool bank in an academic laboratory and delivered an early version of an FMT product for C. difficile infection. Seeing a larger clinical need, BiomeBank was founded in 2018 by Costello, gastroenterologist Rob Bryant, infectious diseases physician Emily Tucker and microbiome scientist Sam Forster, in collaboration with The Hospital Research Foundation, with two aims: bringing a donor-derived microbiome therapy to the Australian market and using it to develop a cultured microbiome therapy for global markets. Tucker led the writing of the BIOMICTRA regulatory dossier and established the donor screening program.
Business model
BiomeBank manufactures its own microbiome therapies in a company-owned cGMP facility in Adelaide and supplies the approved donor-derived product, BIOMICTRA, to hospitals, clinics and licensed medical practitioners in Australia, with encapsulated product intended for distribution through hospitals and pharmacies. Alongside product supply it runs a drug discovery and development pipeline based on its CONSORTIOME co-culturing platform, works with research organisations and hospitals on clinical trials, and pursues partnerships such as the announced strategic partnership with Blackmores for next-generation probiotics.
Sales of BIOMICTRA to hospitals, clinics and licensed medical practitioners in Australia, supplemented by research collaborations and partnership arrangements; the company also solicits investment to fund pipeline growth.
Traction
BIOMICTRA launched in 2022 and is described as widely used for recurrent C. difficile infection in Australian clinical settings. The company received what it describes as the first regulatory approval of a microbiome therapy worldwide, opened a purpose-built GMP facility in Adelaide in November 2023, and grew staff from 18 to 32 over that period. Its culture collection exceeds 35,000 bacteria across roughly 900 species, and BB265 has reached Phase 1b/2a readiness with GMP manufacture demonstrated at 200L scale. Earlier, the company reported facilitating FMT for C. difficile patients since 2013 with an approximately 90% cure rate.
Latest developments
BiomeBank announced a strategic partnership with Australian natural wellbeing company Blackmores covering next-generation probiotics for global markets. Its capsule FMT product LYOMICTRA is in registration with availability expected in 2026/27, and lead co-cultured candidate BB265 for ulcerative colitis is described as Phase 1b/2a-ready with human trials expected in 2027. The company is actively seeking investment to fund growth of its CONSORTIOME pipeline.
βΈFull profile β market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
The company positions itself as the first to obtain regulatory approval for a microbiome therapy and to deliver a regulated donor-derived microbiome therapy, citing the world's largest culture collection, real-world data, proprietary manufacturing and early commercial traction. It cites GlobalData 2025 figures of $8.3B in ulcerative colitis treatment sales in 2025 and $19.8B including inflammatory bowel disease overall, and states that 10% penetration of the ulcerative colitis market would equate to $1.3 billion per year.
BiomeBank contrasts its ecosystem-level, multi-species approach with single-strain probiotic and microbial products, arguing that co-cultured consortia restore lost microbial functions and produce community-level emergent effects. It cites its approved live biotherapeutic product for recurrent C. difficile infection as evidence of regulatory and commercialisation capability, its bioreactor-based co-culturing as a route to donor-independent, scalable and lower-cost manufacture, and its in-house cGMP facility and large culture collection as barriers to entry.
Technology
The CONSORTIOME platform uses anaerobic culturing and co-culturing in bioreactors to build a rationally designed microbial consortium that reproduces an artificial human gut microbial community independent of human donors, said to contain more than 90% of the gene families found in a healthy donor metagenome. It draws on a bacterial culture collection of over 35,000 isolates spanning about 900 species, built on co-founder Sam Forster's work culturing previously 'unculturable' gut organisms. The company also describes combining machine learning with microbiology to identify bacterial strains that influence disease. Its donor-derived line depends on multi-stage donor screening plus quality-controlled processing, storage and transport in a GMP facility.
Go-to-market
Direct supply of BIOMICTRA to Australian hospitals, clinics and licensed practitioners with nationwide clinical support and ordering through the company's site, alongside clinician-facing product information and FAQs. Development and credibility are supported by collaborations with research institutions and hospitals, publication in medical journals, media coverage, and commercial partnerships including Blackmores for global reach in next-generation probiotics.
Hospitals, clinics and licensed medical practitioners in Australia treating patients with recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection; clinical trial and research partners; and, through the pipeline, patients with ulcerative colitis and other inflammatory bowel and microbiome-associated diseases.
Geography
Headquarters, cGMP manufacturing and R&D in Adelaide, South Australia, with an earlier expanded laboratory in the Adelaide suburb of Thebarton. BIOMICTRA is supplied to hospitals and clinics throughout Australia; the company states an intent to expand supply to other regions to meet global demand and, historically, sought TGA accreditation to distribute interstate and internationally.
History
The business traces its FMT activity to 2013, when it began facilitating faecal microbiota transplantation for C. difficile patients; one report describes BiomeBank as established in 2013 as Australia's first public stool bank, while company materials date the founding of the company to 2018. In March 2020 it opened a newly expanded laboratory in Thebarton, Adelaide, while working toward Therapeutic Goods Administration accreditation to distribute stool product interstate and internationally. In October 2022 it received regulatory approval for its donor-derived therapy and completed a A$10 million capital raise, and it launched BIOMICTRA in 2022. In November 2023 it opened a purpose-built GMP manufacturing facility plus an R&D laboratory in Adelaide's biomedical precinct, having grown from 18 to 32 staff. It subsequently announced a strategic partnership with Blackmores and advanced BB265 toward clinical trials.
Risks & controversies
Timelines for the pipeline have shifted: a November 2023 release stated the first CONSORTIOME-derived therapy would enter ulcerative colitis clinical trials in 2024, while current company material expects BB265 to enter human trials in 2027. Earlier operations were constrained by restrictions on transporting faecal product across Australian state borders pending TGA accreditation. Revenue currently depends on a single approved product in one national market, and remaining candidates are pre-clinical or trial-ready rather than approved.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources β announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed β not independently audited.
Timeline Β· 7
launches, deals, and filingsBiomeBank announced a strategic partnership with Australian natural wellbeing company Blackmores to expand the reach of next-generation probiotics to global markets.
BiomeBank opened a Good Manufacturing Practice manufacturing facility, plus a new research and development laboratory and office space, in Adelaide's biomedical precinct, built to scale its cultured microbiome therapies and meet global demand for its approved donor-derived product.
BiomeBank announced research collaborations with the Hudson Institute of Medical Research and RMIT University for microbiome drug discovery, and supply of its approved product to the Microbial Restoration in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (MIRO) study in Crohn's disease with St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne and The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Adelaide.
BiomeBank completed a A$10 million capital raise in October 2022, referenced alongside its first regulatory approval as preceding construction of its GMP facility.
The company received what it describes as the world's first regulatory approval of a microbiome therapy; BIOMICTRA is listed on the ARTG as Australia's first regulated Class 2 donor-derived microbiome therapy.
BiomeBank launched BIOMICTRA, described as the world's first regulated donor-derived microbiome therapy, for recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection; it is available to licensed medical practitioners in Australia in a frozen syringe-based formulation for colonoscopy and enema delivery.
BiomeBank opened a newly expanded laboratory in the inner-western Adelaide suburb of Thebarton to store and process donated stool, aiming to gain TGA accreditation enabling interstate and international distribution.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
βΈResearch sources Β· 8
primary sources listed
- BiomeBankbiomebank.com Β· web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does BiomeBank do?
- Australian clinical-stage biotech making donor-derived and cultured microbiome therapies for C. difficile infection and gut disease.
- Who founded BiomeBank?
- BiomeBank was founded by Sam Costello, Rob Bryant.
- Who are BiomeBank's investors?
- BiomeBank's investors include Artesian, South Australian Venture Capital Fund.
- Where is BiomeBank headquartered?
- BiomeBank is headquartered in Adelaide, AU.