BiomEdit buys Folium Science to add CRISPR tech and enter Brazil
What's the deal? Indiana-based BiomEdit has acquired fellow biotech company Folium ScienceDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, gaining CRISPR-Cas gene-editing technology and a feed additive already cleared for the Brazilian market. Terms were not disclosed. BiomEdit, founded in 2022, uses fermentation and gene-editing to develop bacterial biologics that treat animal disease.
What's the endgame? The acquisition adds Folium's Guided Biotics CRISPR-Cas platform, which targets specific bacteria in a microbiome without harming the broader community. Chief executive officer Aaron Schacht said BiomEdit's technology works like "copy, paste, and insert" while Folium's adds a "delete" function. Several Folium team members will stay on as advisors to integrate the platform.
Why now? Folium brings BiomElix One, a non-pathogenic E. coli strain engineered to knock out key genes in salmonella, which already has approval from Brazil's Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock.
BiomEdit plans to finish developing BiomElix One and launch it in Brazil, then use that regulatory footing to bring its lead product, BE-101, into the country. BE-101 targets necrotic enteritis in broiler chickens by neutralising toxins from Clostridium perfringens . Schacht said timelines could align to launch both products in Brazil next year.
Follow the money: BiomEdit remains on track for US conditional licensure of BE-101 this quarter, after which it will open a Series C round to fund commercialisation of the two products. The company raised $36.5 million in a Series A in 2022 and $18.5 million in a Series B in 2025. Schacht said the Folium deal was "purely opportunistic" and did not materially change BiomEdit's cash or capital trajectory.
The signal: The deal shows precision gene-editing consolidating in animal health, as startups pair complementary platforms to accelerate product pipelines and unlock new markets. BiomEdit is now moving all projects into in-vivo testing, including turkey studies — with the prospect of treating a million Thanksgiving turkeys before the holiday.
Read more: indexbox.io
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
