Inayat-ur-Rahman, Business Editor

CE-Ventures, the corporate venture capital platform of Crescent Enterprises, a leading global, diversified business headquartered in the UAE, has announced its investment in Freya Biosciences Series A funding round totalling $38 million. The trans-Atlantic biotech company specialises in women’s health, with a focus on microbial immunotherapies to address immune drivers underlying a range of reproductive health conditions.

Commenting on the investment, Tushar Singhvi, Deputy CEO and Head of Investments, Crescent Enterprises said: “CE-Ventures is committed to exploring the transformative possibilities within innovative fields, such as microbial immunotherapies. This frontier of scientific exploration promises to address vital reproductive health concerns where conventional treatments have faced limitations and advance women’s overall health and well-being. Our strategic investment in this sector is underscored by a firm belief that a deep understanding of the microbiome and its immunomodulatory role can lead to new therapies for high unmet needs.”

“We are very excited to announce Freya’s Series A fundraise, with the support of dedicated investors,” said Colleen Acosta, CEO of Freya Biosciences. “Conditions that disproportionately and differently affect women have traditionally been underfunded in proportion to its burden on human health. Freya’s initial focus is on the millions of couples around the world who are struggling with infertility. This funding enables us to advance our groundbreaking immunotherapy platform targeting the vaginal microbiota and unlock its therapeutic potential in this area and beyond.”

In addition to CE-Ventures, the funding round includes prominent investors such as Sofinnova Partners, OMX Ventures, The Export and Investment Fund of Denmark, Angelini Ventures, Mike Jafar Family Office, Corundum Systems Biology, and Indaco Venture Partners. This collaborative effort underscores the shared commitment to driving innovation in women’s health and advancing the field of reproductive immunotherapies.

This substantial funding marks one of the largest investments dedicated to advancing women’s reproductive immunotherapies. It follows positive top-line clinical results, propelling the clinical development of Freya’s lead drug candidate. This investigational vaginal microbial immunotherapeutic target infertility in women with dysbiotic vaginal microbiota undergoing assisted reproductive technology (ART). Additionally, the funding will drive the evolution of Freya’s multi-omics data science platform, encompassing deep microbiome sequencing and extensive multiplexed immune biomarker profiling in human clinical samples.