Microbiome Report for week ending 3/23/19

March 26, 2019

Enterome to Collaborate with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute on Microbiome Immunotherapies
ENTEROME SA announced on 3/20/19 that is has entered into a research and development collaboration with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Boston, MA) to evaluate and develop gut microbiome-derived antigens as potential cancer immunotherapies.

Enterome is developing an innovative approach to cancer immunotherapy, based on the concept of “molecular mimicry,” whereby microbiome-derived bacterial antigens show molecular similarity with Tumor-associated Antigens (TAAs) and Tumor-specific Neoantigens (TSNAs). Based on this similarity, bacterial antigens (“onco-mimics”) mimic key tumor antigens that are highly expressed by tumors to trigger tumor-specific cytotoxic T cell immune responses.

Enterome has developed a discovery platform to identify such onco-mimics from the human gut microbiome and has advanced EO2401 as its first clinical candidate. EO2401 comprises several microbiome-derived antigens that mimic antigens highly expressed by brain tumors and is targeting first clinical trials in 2019 as a potential new immunotherapy for recurrent glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) for which no curative treatments exist.
The collaboration brings together Enterome’s ability to identify potential TAAs and TSNAs as well as to generate bacterial onco-mimics for the selected TAAs and TSNAs with the complementary translational expertise from the research groups at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute led by Dr. David Reardon at the Center for Neuro-Oncology and Dr. Paul Kirschmeier at the Belfer Center for Applied Cancer Science. Drs. Reardon’s and Kirschner’s groups are focused on driving innovative research programs and clinical trials to improve cure rates in patients with brain and spinal cancers, with a particular focus on immunotherapies.
Through this collaboration Enterome will have access to knowledge, scientific expertise and preclinical models at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute that are intended to support the in vivo validation and further development of Enterome’s immunotherapy approach for the treatment of cancer.
Enterome currently has six therapies in development. Development partners include Takeda, Johnson and Johnson and Bristol-Myers Squibb.


Rebiotix to Present Microbiome Health Index at Gut Microbiota For Health Summit 2019
Rebiotix Inc., a Ferring company, will present analyses of clinical samples collected during two of the company’s completed phase 2 clinical trials for the prevent of recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection, and the contribution of these data to further develop the company’s prototype Microbiome Health Index (MHI) platform metric during the Gut Microbiota for Health World Summit. The Summit will take place March 23-24 in Miami, Florida.
“The MHI platform is an integral part of furthering our understanding of the impact of the gut microbiome on human health,” said Dr. Ken Blount, Chief Scientific Officer at Rebiotix. “Through our extensive research programs that have grown from our clinical trials, we are unveiling new facets of the microbiome and its correlation with conditions like Clostrioides difficile infection. We are excited to continue to share our findings with colleagues in the field, as we believe these data are critical to further our collective knowledge concerning the potential of microbiota-based therapeutics.”
The MHI platform, part of the research arm of the company’s microbiota-based MRT™ drug platform, continues to expand opportunities to investigate changes in disrupted gut microbial ecosystem of patients before and after intervention with the MRT drug formulations currently under clinical investigation.

Symbiotix Biotherapies Announces License Agreement with Harvard University
Symbiotix Biotherapies, Inc. (“Symbiotix”) announced on 3/21/19 that it has entered into a license agreement with Harvard University. Under the agreement, Symbiotix gains access to a portfolio of intellectual property developed in the laboratory of Dennis Kasper, M.D., William Ellery Channing Professor of Medicine and Professor of Microbiology and Immunobiology at Harvard Medical School.
Drawing on aspects of Dr. Kasper’s earlier research at Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Symbiotix developed Reglemers™, a new class of molecular therapeutics that modulate regulatory T cell (TREG) activity, providing a new therapeutic approach to protection against autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. The license from Harvard now provides additional compositions and methods that may enable improvements to that approach.

“We are extraordinarily pleased to expand our extensive intellectual property portfolio with this license agreement,” said Nader Yaghoubi, M.D., Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Symbiotix. “Symbiotix has steadily built the leading intellectual property portfolio in the microbiome sector, which now includes license agreements with four academic institutions, and includes issued composition-of-matter patents protecting our lead program.”

Dr. Kasper is a Scientific Co-Founder of Symbiotix Biotherapies, Inc.

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