Archive for year: 2020

Cambridge, UK, 18 September 2020 – Microbiotica, a leading player in microbiome-based therapeutics and biomarkers, has been named Business Weekly Young Company of the Year 2020.

The “Young Company of the Year” category is awarded to the most exciting recently incorporated enterprise in any sector that has made significant progress in the last 12 months. Microbiotica has been recognised for its continued development in using human data to drive new therapeutic strategies in the microbiome to fulfil its potential as a new class of medicine.

Microbiotica has addressed the challenges of taking microbiome therapeutics into a rational, data-driven era. Its platform, evolved from technology developed over more than a decade at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, comprises the world’s leading microbiome Culture Collection and Reference Genome Database, advanced Microbiome Bioinformatics and Machine Learning technology, and an unprecedented capability to isolate all the gut bacteria from any one human. The Company is able to use these tools to comprehensively analyse large clinical datasets, discern specific bacteria associated with patient phenotypes, and identify candidates for therapeutics or biomarkers to manage drug treatment.

Earlier this year, the Company signed a collaboration agreement with Cancer Research UK (CRUK) and Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH) to develop microbiome co-therapeutics and biomarkers for cancer patients receiving checkpoint inhibitor therapy. This collaboration represents further progress by the Company into the immuno-oncology field, having discovered a key predictive biomarker and therapeutic with an established preclinical proof-of-concept.

This collaboration is a further validation of the Company’s technology following a major collaboration with Genentech/Roche in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), and one with University of Adelaide to develop novel bacterial therapy for Ulcerative Colitis (UC). The therapeutic in UC has also made significant progress in the past 12 months, with key preclinical proof-of-concept established.

Dr Mike Romanos, CEO of Microbiotica, said of the win: “This year has been significant for Microbiotica; and Dr Trevor Lawley (co-founder and CSO) and I are proud that the company has been recognised for the milestones it has achieved over the past year. Winning this award is a testament to the entire team here, as well as the quality of our ongoing programmes and collaborations. I believe that we have built a world-leading platform that best positions us to explore the microbiome as a new class of medicine in a wide range of diseases, with much further progress in the coming years”

Cambridge, UK, 9 September 2020 – Microbiotica, a leading player in microbiome-based therapeutics and biomarkers, been selected as a finalist in the ‘Best Emerging Biotech Company’ category at the OBN Awards 2020. The winners will be announced on Thursday 26th November.

Microbiotica has established itself as a leading global player in its field, and most recently it has been recognised for its collaboration with Cancer Research UK and CUH. This has so far allowed the company to discover the first gut bacterial signature predictive of drug response of immuno-oncology checkpoint inhibitors which it is developing as a potentially transformational medicine to convert non-responding patients to responders. This collaboration is a further validation of the Company’s technology following a major collaboration with Genentech/Roche in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), and one with University of Adelaide to develop novel bacterial therapy for Ulcerative Colitis.

The OBN Awards, now in their 12th year, celebrate outstanding achievement throughout the life sciences industry. The awards seek to shine a light on companies at all stages of development, recognising inspirational leadership, exciting innovation, novel and exciting approaches, outstanding company progression, fresh thinking around collaborations and deal-making as well as the critical role that support organisations play in helping the life sciences industry thrive.

Dr Mike Romanos, CEO of Microbiotica, said: “The OBN awards are one of our industry’s most prestigious awards as judged by a panel of leading industry entrepreneurs and experts. We are delighted to receive the industry-wide recognition that being shortlisted for Best Emerging Biotech Company brings. This is testament to the outstanding achievements made by Microbiotica in its four years of existence.”

Details of the awards ceremony are as follows:

OBN Awards 2020
Date: 26 November 2020
Venue: The Royal Lancaster Hotel, London
For more information, see here: https://obn-awards.com/

Cambridge, UK, 13 August 2020 – Microbiotica, a leading player in microbiome-based therapeutics and biomarkers, today congratulates Co-founder Gordon Dougan, FRS, Professor in the Department of Medicine and the Cambridge Institute for Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Disease at the University of Cambridge, on being awarded the 2020 Albert B. Sabin Gold Medal.

The Gold Medal, now in its 27th year, is Sabin’s highest scientific honour, and is given each year to a distinguished member of the global health community who has made extraordinary contributions to vaccinology or a complementary field. Past award recipients include leaders of vaccinology and vaccine advocacy such as Drs. D.A. Henderson, Maurice Hilleman, Anne Gershon, Myron Levine and Paul Offit.

Professor Dougan’s research in vaccine discovery and delivery has focused on two key areas; equitable access to vaccines and information, and the application of genomics to enable vaccine development. After earning his doctoral degree from Sussex University, he spent 10 years at the Wellcome Foundation, where his team utilised recombinant engineering to define the protective antigen, pertactin, now a component of whooping cough vaccines. He then moved to Imperial College London, where he established the Centre for Molecular Microbiology and Infection.

Next, Professor Dougan assembled a world class program for teaching and research at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridge. While there, he built a department that led research on pathogen genomics and disease tracking, put antimicrobial resistance on the map as a major public health concern and pioneered the construction of attenuated strains of salmonella to aid in the development of typhoid vaccines. The open access data and technology generated under his leadership at the Institute directly impacted the creation of vaccines against many diseases including pertussis, typhoid fever and cholera, and his multi-faceted coalition-building work with the World Health Organization and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, led to the successful delivery of several affordable vaccines around the world.

“I’m honoured to receive this award named after Dr. Sabin, whose ground-breaking invention and successful global distribution of the trivalent oral polio vaccine relates to some of my proudest professional accomplishments,” said Professor Dougan. “Open access data and technology has empowered scientists and researchers, including in low- and middle-income countries, to accelerate progress on vaccines that may be of low commercial priority, but make a substantial difference to the quality of life and health of vulnerable populations around the world. I am proud to have supported this work.”

Mike Romanos, Co-founder and CEO, Microbiotica, added: “Throughout Gordon’s distinguished career he has made an enormous contribution to the field of vaccinology, particularly in working to improve vaccine delivery to poorly resourced regions. His knowledge and expertise in analysing microbial populations is one of the cornerstones upon which Microbiotica was founded, and is helping to advance new therapeutic strategies in the microbiome. On behalf of everyone at Microbiotica, I would like to congratulate him in receiving this prestigious award.”

View the video highlighting the 2020 Albert B. Sabin Gold Medal, including remarks by Professor Dougan and his introducers, Dr. Myron M. Levine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, and Dr. Anthony Scott, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.