Funding will support continued development of Calpurbatug (TRL1068), a novel therapy being evaluated for prosthetic joint infections (PJI)
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., July 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Trellis Bioscience, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing native human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to treat intractable infectious diseases, today announced the closing of a $9 million Series C financing. This funding will support completion of the Company’s Phase 2 trial of calpurbatug (TRL1068), an investigational mAb treatment for chronic prosthetic joint infections (PJI).
The Series C received continued support from existing investors, including New Science Ventures and Easton Capital, while attracting new investors AMR Action Fund (AMRAF), The Doctor Group of Dallas, Texas, and orthopedic surgeons with extensive expertise in PJI from centers of excellence across the United States. This brings Trellis’s total equity funding to approximately $35 million, matched by a similar amount of non-dilutive grant support from NIAID (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease) and CARB-X (Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator, a global nonprofit partnership). In conjunction with AMRAF’s investment, Junjun Gao, PhD, Principal, has been appointed to the Trellis Board of Directors, bringing valuable sector expertise to the company’s leadership
“We’re excited to have the backing of AMRAF, the most prominent investor in the antimicrobial space, as we move ahead in our efforts to redefine how antibiotic-resistant infections are treated in the future,” said Trellis CEO Geoff Dillon. “By disrupting bacterial biofilm, calpurbatug represents a new class of agents with potential utility in a substantial number of antibiotic-resistant infections.”
A New Therapeutic Category for Antibiotic-Resistant Infections From—and Beyond—Orthopedic Surgery
Prosthetic joint infections are a debilitating, hard-to-treat and costly consequence of knee or hip joint replacements, affecting more than 25,000 patients — or roughly 1-2 percent of joint replacement recipients — annually in the U.S. alone. There are no approved therapeutic treatments for this condition and the current standard of care is a two-stage surgical revision that is associated with significantly diminished quality of life, high failure and five-year mortality rates, and billions of dollars in additional health care expenditures, with estimates indicating that managing PJIs can exceed $400,000 per patient. A less invasive approach for managing PJIs know as DAIR (debridement, antibiotics, and implant retention) is more patient-friendly but has a substantially higher failure rate, particularly for chronic PJI.
The Trellis approach is to attack the antibiotics-resistance associated with PJI at its source. Extensive pre-clinical data and encouraging clinical results to date indicate that calpurbatug (TRL1068) effectively disassembles the biofilm that prevents antibiotics from eliminating the bacterial infection. Jason Adams of The Doctor Group said, “The emerging results from clinical trials for augmenting the DAIR procedure with TRL1068 suggest that this innovative drug will yield outcomes superior to two-stage revision in a range of bacterial infections. That would be a true game changer in the field — better results and less grueling for the patient.”
A Growing Healthcare Crisis
“The PJI treatment challenge and financial burden are expanding as more joint replacement surgeries are expected for the aging U.S. population,” said John Friedman, Chairman of Easton Capital.
“Infection is a risk with any surgical procedure, and prosthetic joint infections can be devastating for patients,” said Henry Skinner, PhD, CEO of AMR Action Fund. “The growing threat of antimicrobial resistance is making these infections increasingly difficult to treat. We are pleased to support the Trellis team as they work to develop a therapy that could improve outcomes for patients and help preserve the antibiotic safety net that underpins modern surgical care.”
Development Status
Trellis conducted its first-in-human trial of calpurbatug in PJI patients under an FDA-cleared IND application. In addition to safety and pharmacokinetics data, this Phase 1 trial provided early clinical evidence of biofilm-disrupting activity. The current Phase 2 trial testing TRL1068 in PJI patients as part of a DAIR procedure is fully enrolled, with top line results expected in Q2 2027.
TRL1068 has received Orphan Drug, Fast Track and Qualified Infectious Disease Product (QIDP) designations from the FDA, which may help facilitate development and regulatory review and, in the case of QIDP designation, provide additional market exclusivity following approval.
About Trellis Bioscience, Inc.
Trellis developed a proprietary technology for cloning antibodies, including calpurbatug (TRL1068), from human white blood cells. Human antibodies have a lower failure rate due to toxicity than any other drug class. Applied to infectious diseases, the technology has allowed discovery of antibodies from patients who have recovered from the disease. In addition to the lead biofilm disruption program, Trellis’s pipeline includes antiviral antibodies (one of which is in a clinical trial) targeting major unmet medical needs.
About the Investor Syndicate
Trellis’s platform technology development was funded by top-tier venture capital firms and its product development is being funded by AMR Action Fund, The Doctor Group and Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) as well as by prior institutional investors New Science Ventures and Easton Capital.
Media Contact:
Nora Mende, CFO
nmende@trellisbio.com
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SOURCE Trellis Bioscience Inc.
