Lumen Bioscience: Revolutionizing Biologic Drug Manufacturing with Spirulina

Funding announcements in biotech are more than business headlines—they're signals of scientific momentum and bets on new ways of understanding or treating disease. These moments offer a glimpse into where science is headed, what investors are prioritizing, and how novel biology is making its way toward the clinic.

In this series, we're covering early-stage biotech companies that recently raised capital, spotlighting the ideas—and the science—behind them. Next up: Lumen Bioscience.

Lumen Bioscience's Bold Goal: Make Biologics Accessible at Scale

Lumen Bioscience, a Seattle-based clinical-stage biotechnology company founded in 2017, has developed a revolutionary approach to manufacturing biologic drugs. The company uses genetically engineered spirulina—a cyanobacterium (commonly called blue-green algae) consumed worldwide—to produce and deliver therapeutic proteins through an oral delivery system.

This spirulina-based platform represents a fundamental shift in how biologics can be manufactured and delivered. Rather than relying on expensive batch-fermentation technologies using Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, Lumen has engineered spirulina to act as a highly productive biomanufacturing host. The technology enables manufacture of biologic proteins at costs two to three orders of magnitude lower than traditional systems—making oral biologics economically viable for widespread diseases that were previously considered uncommercial.

The spirulina cells naturally encapsulate therapeutic proteins, protecting them as they travel through the stomach before releasing the drugs in the intestines. As a photosynthetic cyanobacterium, spirulina supports cultivation at massive scale in saltwater using just sunlight and carbon dioxide, offering a sustainable approach that eliminates the need for sterile cleanroom facilities required by traditional manufacturing.

Why Biologics Need a New Manufacturing Paradigm

Traditional biologic drug manufacturing is prohibitively expensive, costing roughly $100-200 per gram. This high cost barrier has limited biologics primarily to lucrative therapy areas like cancer and autoimmune disorders, leaving highly prevalent diseases—particularly those affecting developing countries—largely unaddressed.

A Breakthrough Platform: Spirulina-Based Drug Manufacturing

Lumen's patented technology transforms spirulina into a versatile drug development and manufacturing platform. The company has secured 33+ issued patents protecting various aspects of this innovation, including techniques for creating stable, targeted mutations in spirulina and modifications that improve photosynthetic activity.

The platform shortens the development process, reduces risks, and accelerates time-to-market, making Lumen the first company to make orally delivered antibody drugs commercially viable. The spirulina-based system eliminates downstream processing purification steps required by traditional manufacturing, as the organism naturally stores soluble therapeutic proteins without forming inclusion bodies.

Lumen operates a GMP-grade production facility in Seattle's Fremont-Wallingford neighborhood, located in a historic former bakery building constructed in 1929. This expanded manufacturing capacity supports the larger volumes of spirulina-based biologic drugs needed for multiple clinical trials.

Clinical Success: LMN-201 for C. Difficile Infection

Lumen's lead clinical candidate, LMN-201, targets Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI), the most common healthcare-associated infection in U.S. hospitals, causing nearly half a million cases and more than $5 billion in costs annually. CDI is closely associated with antibiotic use in hospitals and nursing homes, and 20-40% of patients suffer recurrence within weeks of initial treatment.

LMN-201 is an oral biologic cocktail combining four therapeutic proteins that work synergistically to neutralize both the C. difficile bacterium and its toxin. The drug is designed to be administered alongside standard-of-care antibiotics and for eight weeks thereafter, offering protection from reinfection while commensal bacteria recolonize the gastrointestinal tract.

In April 2025, Lumen announced landmark results from the sentinel cohort of its RePreve Clinical Trial. All 21 patients who completed seven days of LMN-201 plus standard-of-care antibiotics achieved 100% initial clinical cure (95% confidence interval 85-100%), outperforming the 80% cure rate observed in the comparable MODIFY I/II trials, though direct comparisons should be interpreted cautiously given the difference in sample sizes (21 vs 781 patients).

The FDA granted Fast Track Designation for LMN-201 in May 2023, underscoring the significant unmet need for treating and preventing CDI. The company's pivotal Phase II/III trial is designed to enroll approximately 375 patients across the United States to evaluate LMN-201's ability to improve treatment outcomes and prevent disease recurrence.

Leadership & Expertise

Lumen Bioscience is led by a team combining legal, commercial, and scientific expertise:

• Brian Finrow, Co-Founder and CEO: A Harvard Law School graduate, Finrow brings over 15 years of legal and commercial experience from Adaptive Biotechnologies, where he served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel, and from the law firm Cooley LLP. He co-founded Lumen in April 2017.
• Jim Roberts, Co-Founder: Roberts is the former head of basic sciences at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and brings deep scientific expertise to the company's platform development.
• Craig Behnke, Executive Vice President, Production/Development: Behnke oversees the company's manufacturing operations and facility expansion.

Funding & Backing

Lumen Bioscience has secured substantial funding from both private investors and government agencies, demonstrating broad confidence in its platform technology :

• Series A (2017): $11.2 million, plus $1.8 million from a U.S. Department of Energy grant
• Series B (2020): $16 million co-led by WestRiver Group and Bioeconomy Capital, with participation from Avista Development, Columbia Pacific, and Seattle-area angels
• Series C Extension (2025): $30 million led by WestRiver Group with significant participation from the Gates Foundation and existing investors
• Department of Defense (2023): $16.2 million to advance LMN-201 through late-stage trials
• CARB-X Award: Up to $5.35 million (with potential for $8.26 million more) to develop immunotherapy for diarrheal diseases caused by Campylobacter jejuni and enterotoxigenic E. coli
• DoD Vaccine Platform (2023): $5.5 million through the Medical CBRN Defense Consortium to develop MoDuSA needle-free vaccine technology

By 2025, Lumen has raised well over $100 million in total equity and non-dilutive funding, including disclosed rounds plus additional grants from government agencies and foundations, to support its expanding pipeline and manufacturing capabilities.

Pipeline & Strategic Partnerships

Beyond LMN-201, Lumen has developed a diverse pipeline addressing multiple therapeutic areas :

• C. difficile infection (LMN-201): Currently in pivotal Phase II/III trials
• Traveler's diarrhea (LMN-101): Oral antibody cocktail targeting Campylobacter jejuni and enterotoxigenic E. coli, supported by CARB-X funding
• Norovirus: Orally delivered biologic in development
• Inflammatory bowel disease: Oral biologic cocktail for treating and preventing IBD
• Cardiometabolic disease: Research collaboration with Novo Nordisk initiated in 2021
• MoDuSA vaccine platform: Modular Dual Scaffolded Adjuvant technology for next-generation, needle-free vaccines

The Novo Nordisk partnership represents significant validation of Lumen's platform technology. The collaboration explores how orally delivered biologics can modulate gut biology to treat cardiometabolic conditions, combining Lumen's expertise in large-scale, affordable manufacturing with Novo Nordisk's clinical development and commercialization expertise.

Market Opportunity & Competitive Advantage

Lumen's spirulina-based platform offers distinct competitive advantages that position the company uniquely in the biologics market. The dramatic cost reduction makes it economically viable to develop oral biologics for highly prevalent diseases that were previously considered uncommercial.

The oral delivery format provides significant patient convenience advantages over IV-infused biologics, eliminating the need for trained medical personnel and hospital visits while potentially improving patient compliance and access. The platform's versatility enables rapid development across multiple therapeutic areas, with the capacity to generate sustainable pipelines of novel therapeutics addressing major unmet needs.

The room-temperature stability of spirulina-based biologics eliminates cold-chain logistics requirements, making treatments accessible in regions lacking refrigeration infrastructure—a critical advantage for addressing global health challenges in developing countries.