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Bacterial vaginosis (BV) affects around 30% of women 
of childbearing age globally, making it the most 
common bacterial imbalance in this population. 
While some experience distressing symptoms, such 
as odour, discharge, and itching, BV poses serious 
risks to all carriers, including a doubled risk of 
preterm birth, a tenfold increase in miscarriage, and 
heightened susceptibility to sexually transmitted 
infections. Despite its prevalence, BV remains poorly 
managed and 70% of women treated with current 
antimicrobials relapse within nine months.
Founded in 2018, CC Bio is pioneering a new approach 
to BV treatment through endolysins - enzymes that 
target bacterial peptidoglycan with high specificity 
and potency. Using their proprietary discovery 
platform, Zeus, CC Bio identifies endolysins capable 
of disrupting the resilient biofilms formed by BV-
associated bacteria such as Gardnerella spp. and 
Fannyhessea vaginae. These biofilms resist traditional 
antimicrobials, necessitating novel solutions.
In 2021, CC Bio received a transformative Proof of 
Concept award from NBIC, enabling a collaboration 
with researchers from Glasgow Caledonian University 
(GCU). This partnership provided critical expertise 
in bacterial culture and biofilm testing, allowing CC 
Bio to evolve from an in silico company to a full-
spectrum drug development enterprise. Dr David 
Corcoran, CC Bio Co-Founder and COO said:
“We strongly believe that our work with NBIC has 
contributed to the progress that we have made with 
our Women’s Health programme. Before engaging 
with NBIC, we were essentially an in silico company, 
without any ability to screen our promising candidates. 
After the critical funding from NBIC in 2021, we evolved 
into a coherent drug development company, with our 
testing capacity augmented by a robust collaboration 
Tackling Bacterial Vaginosis 
with Precision Biofilm Disruption 
with expert partners in GCU. Without NBIC funding, 
it is highly uncertain whether we would have been 
able to achieve this progress and bring highly 
needed BV therapeutics to the cusp of the clinic”.
The NBIC award catalysed several milestones: 
a £613k Innovate UK grant, over £800k in seed 
funding, two patent filings, and a high-impact 
publication. In 2024, CC Bio was acquired by Precisio 
Biotix Therapeutics, and in 2025, a $1.5m Gates 
Foundation grant was awarded to advance BV 
candidates through preclinical development.
These therapeutics aim to prevent BV-related 
contributions to the UK’s 250,000 annual 
miscarriages and restore sexual confidence for 
symptomatic women. The CC Bio–GCU collaboration 
continues to thrive, exploring novel drug delivery 
systems and immunotherapeutic applications to 
revolutionise biofilm-related disease treatment.
This project has now been awarded funding through 
NBIC’s Industrial Challenge Response Fund.
Dr Matthew Cummings, Co-Founder and CEO, CC Bio 
Dr Cummings drives biotech innovation, using synthetic biology and machine learning 
to transform research into global healthcare and commercial solutions.
Dr Ryan Kean, GCU 
Dr Kean researches microbial biofilms and drug discovery for women’s health, 
focusing on antimicrobials, microbiome agents, and devices.
Dr David Corcoran, Co-Founder and COO, CC Bio 
Dr Corcoran advances precision medicine, integrating genomics, data science, and 
AI to accelerate healthcare innovation and translational research impact.
Photomicrograph of gram stain 
showing Bacterial Vaginosis.
CASE STUDY 

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