Microbiome Report for Week Ending 8/25/18

Kaleido Biosciences Promotes Industry Veteran to CEO Role

Kaleido Biosciences, a clinical-stage healthcare company leading the development of novel chemistries that drive functions of the microbiome organ, today announced that Alison Lawton, Kaleido’s president and chief operating officer (COO), has been appointed to succeed Michael Bonney as chief executive officer. Joshua Brumm has been promoted to COO and will continue to serve as Kaleido’s chief financial officer. In addition, Mr. Bonney will maintain a leadership role at Kaleido as executive chairman of the Board of Directors.

“One of my top priorities when I joined Kaleido was to build an exceptional team with broad and deep experience to lead a rapidly advancing organization such as ours,” said Mr. Bonney. “In the three years since our inception, we have generated a library of more than 700 novel compounds, conducted seven human clinical studies with our Microbiome Metabolic Therapies, and raised $165 million, including our recent Series C financing. We are also well positioned to initiate Phase 2 clinical studies planned for 2019. With all that we have accomplished, I believe this is the ideal time for Alison to become CEO while I maintain my commitment to the company as executive chairman. Alison and Josh are both proven leaders who bring tremendous energy and expertise to Kaleido, and I look forward to continuing to work with them. They will be instrumental in ensuring Kaleido realizes the exciting potential of our revolutionary approach to leveraging the microbiome to treat disease and improve human health.”


“I am honored to have the opportunity to lead Kaleido at an important time in its evolution,” said Ms. Lawton. “We are advancing a robust pipeline in several disease areas, transforming product development and building an organization committed to fostering a strong culture. We have the potential to make an extraordinary impact on patients’ lives and offer solutions that address needs across the healthcare continuum. I am excited to continue to work with our strong leadership team and dedicated employees to enhance our science, technology and platform to lead a revolution in human health.”

Kaleido is currently developing treatments for eleven conditions. In June of 2018, the company announced that it had raised $101 million in Series C financing.

EpiBiome Selected to Present at KC Animal Health Investment Forum

EpiBiome, a precision microbiome engineering company, has been selected to participate in the KC Animal Health Investment Forum. The company will present data on its efforts to develop FDA-approved, zero-withholding-time alternatives to small-molecule antibiotics.

EpiBiome has initiated groundbreaking work in reducing the use of shared-class antibiotics—those shared between humans and animals—in agriculture. Instead of antibiotics, the company deploys bacteriophages, which are bacteria-specific viruses that can kill problematic bacteria, such as E. coli and S. aureus. The company's first disease indication is bovine mastitis, an inflammation of the udder tissue in dairy cows, which inflicts more than $2 billion in annual losses to the U.S. dairy industry due to reduced milk production and milk quality. EpiBiome is one of just twelve companies selected to present at the exclusive event.


Gut bug enzyme turns blood into type-O

Researchers, from the University of British Columbia, have discovered enzymes from gut bacteria that can efficiently turn type A blood into Type O. Type-O blood is special because it can be donated to anyone without the risk of a bad mismatch reaction. In laboratory tests, the enzymes were able to completely convert blood type A to O.