Ascribe Bio Closes $12 Million Series A Financing

This week Ascribe Bio Closed a $12 Million Series A Round and I had a conversation with Gabriel Wilmoth, COO, of the company.

This week I had a conversation with Gabriel Wilmoth, COO, of Ascribe Bio. Gabriel has a unique experience in that he’s been an investor (Syngenta Ventures), a part of a start-up that was acquired (GROWERS), sits on the board of a rapidly growing biological company (BW Fusion) and now has day-to-day responsibilities at Ascribe Bio. Given that unique experience, our conversation looked backwards 3 years over the company’s development since their Seed financing round, to the current Series A, and highlighted what the fund raising process was like in today’s market. The below is broken down into four segments:

1. Overview of Ascribe and Phytalix

2. The Fund Raising Landscape and Process

3. Ascribe Bio and the Future

4. Investor Make-up

Overview of Phytalix

Ascribe Bio’s flagship product is known as Phytalix.

Phytalix is a small molecule crop protection product derived from ascarosides, naturally occurring signaling molecules produced by soil organisms such as nematodes— specifically with biofungicide attributes.

Unlike conventional fungicides that directly work on pathogens, Phytalix has a unique mode of action that works by priming the plant’s immune system. Two of the most important plant defense strategies are Induced Systemic Resistance (ISR) and Systemic Acquired Resistance (SAR) — Phytalix leverages these mechanisms.

ISR specifically can be thought of as a natural way of “vaccinating” plants, preparing them to fight off pathogens. Phytalix has shown efficacy on major diseases like Asian Soybean Rust, Northern Corn Leaf Blight, and Fusarium Headblight. Notably, ISR has a broader efficacy beyond fungi, and even supports a plants ability to fend off bacterial pathogens.

Phytlix is effective at low doses, 25-100mg/ac, reflecting its role as a biochemical signaler rather than a traditional killing agent.

The molecule also has versatility. Today, the company has focused on foliar application, but there is potential to be used as a seed treatment, tank mixed, or co-formulated with conventional crop protection products. I think the co-formulation aspect is important, too. It has a unique mode of action and would work well in conjunction with a traditional fungicide to both prime the plant (Phytalix), and stifle pathogens directly (traditional fungicide).

It also has more traditional “chemical-like” IP, including numerous patents and patent filings surrounding the molecule — related to formulation, use case, modified release of the molecule and more.

Fundraising Landscape and Approach

In 2021, Ascribe Bio had a molecule that had seen significant academic research but only one field trial. They knew their future hinged on answering three questions:

1. Does Phytalix work outside the lab and greenhouse and in the field?

2. Can it be manufactured at a cost that makes it viable in broad-acre row crops?

3. Is it safe? And will regulators in the U.S. and Brazil agree?

Over the next three years, Ascribe worked to systematically answer each in hopes of derisking the molecule, and the business.

Over that time frame, they have added more than 800 field trials across multiple countries and independent organizations to learn more about the product and optimize performance.

They were able to get the manufacturing COGS low enough that Phytalix could be used in a row crop setting, with adequate margins for the company and through the value chain. One of the stand out aspects to me here was the dosage requirement — needing just 25-100mg/ac to achieve adequate efficacy. Ingredient potency is one component of delivering manageable COGS, and also enables future optionality for co-formulation or co-packaging.

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