Microbiotica collaborates with Genentech to develop drugs for IBD

Microbiotica, a leading player in microbiome-based therapeutics spun out of the Wellcome Sanger Institute, today announced that it has entered into a multi-year strategic collaboration with Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, to discover, develop and commercialize biomarkers, targets and medicines for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Under the terms of the agreement, Microbiotica will utilize its precision metagenomics microbiome platform to analyze patient samples from clinical trials of Genentech's investigational IBD medicines, in order to identify microbiome biomarker signatures of drug response, novel IBD drug targets and live bacterial therapeutic products. Microbiotica will receive an undisclosed upfront payment and is eligible to receive research, development and commercialization milestone payments up to $534 million based on achievement of certain predetermined milestones. In addition, Microbiotica is eligible to receive royalties on sales of certain products resulting from the collaboration. Genentech also has an option to license assets that Microbiotica develops as a result of the research collaboration.

Microbiotica was formed 18 months ago with funding from Cambridge Innovation Capital and IP Group to commercialize ground-breaking microbiome science at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, from the laboratory of Dr Trevor Lawley, CSO of Microbiotica.

The Microbiotica platform comprises the world's leading microbiome Culture Collection and linked Reference Genome Database that enable unprecedented precision of gut bacterial identification at clinical trial scale. The Company is adding to this at a very rapid rate through its industrial culturing and sequencing pipeline, providing the best available representation of clinical trial samples for strain-level identification of bacteria. The complex datasets that arise from such studies are analyzed using AI techniques to discern microbiome signatures linked to phenotype. The availability of the physical Culture Collection enables biological evaluation of bacteria in proprietary translational models including humanised microbiome mouse models.

Dr Mike Romanos, CEO of Microbiotica, said: "This collaboration brings together a world-class pipeline of investigational IBD medicines from Genentech with the world-class microbiome capability of Microbiotica. We are excited by the opportunity to work with Genentech scientists in order to bring precision metagenomics into the clinical arena for the first time, enabling us to develop biomarkers and medicines for the benefit of patients."

"This collaboration reflects Microbiotica's strategy of utilizing its platform for medicines and biomarker discovery while simultaneously expanding platform capabilities. Whilst Genentech will retain rights to proprietary biomarkers, targets and medicines, the collaboration will enable Microbiotica to continue to rapidly expand its already leading Reference Genome Database and Culture Collection, further strengthening its value across all therapeutic areas," added Dr Romanos.

James Sabry, M.D., Ph.D., Senior Vice President and Global Head of Genentech Partnering, said: "We believe the microbiome represents a new paradigm in biomedicine, both for understanding drug response and as a novel therapeutic modality. We have chosen to collaborate with Microbiotica because of its high-quality science and look forward to working together to potentially bring new medicines to people suffering from IBD."