Microbiome

The human microbiome is a complex community of microorganisms which live on every surface of the human body. It supports the maintenance and development of the immune system, metabolism, and other functions essential to human life.¹

It can be viewed like the Amazon rainforest – its complex diversity works together to function, but if the rainforest is damaged, it can’t function in the same way and other species may be able to take root.

If a microbial imbalance occurs within the microbiome this can lead to wide-ranging disorders including recurrent clostridioides difficile (C. diff), irritable bowel syndrome or diabetes mellitus.²

As part of Ferring’s commitment to creating life-changing medicines, we are working with our partners to understand the human microbiome and its role in health and disease, and exploring the potential of rehabilitating the gut microbiome to help people live better lives.

Ferring began working in the microbiome space in 2008 and has since established long-lasting relationships with reputable institutions such as Karolinska Institutet, Metabogen and Intralytix.

Sharing expertise to efficiently develop innovative treatments

In 2018, Ferring acquired Rebiotix Inc., an innovative biotechnology company and microbiome pioneer. Together, with our deep-rooted commitment to helping people live better lives, we are developing life-changing microbiome products aimed at providing a different technology to treat certain debilitating diseases.

We are pioneering the development of microbiota-based technologies which you can read more about here.

Potential of microbiome therapy

Gastroenterology – C. difficile is a bacterium that causes diarrhoea and colitis (inflammation of the colon) and has been declared a National Health Threat by the Centers for Disease Control in the United States.³

Reproductive medicine and maternal health – Vaginal microbial imbalance (dysbiosis) is under investigation for possible association with pre-term birth⁴ and risk of human papilloma virus (HPV)⁵, and microbiota may represent a diagnostic and therapeutic opportunity to increase fertility treatment success⁶. We are applying our deep heritage and understanding of reproductive medicine and maternal health to investigate the potential of harnessing the microbiome in the treatment of these conditions.

References

1. Human Microbiome & Gut Microbiota: Rebiotix Inc. www.rebiotix.com/our -therapy/the-human-microbiome. Accessed July 2, 2019.
2. Sekirov I., et al. Gut Microbiota in Health and Disease. Physiol Rev. 2010 Jul;90(3):859-904
3. Langdon A. et al. The effects of antibiotics on the microbiome throughout development and alternative approaches for therapeutic modulation. Genome Med. 2016;8(1):39
4. Fettweis J., et al. The vaginal microbiome and preterm birth. Nat Med. 2019 Jun;25(6):1012-1021
5. Norenhag J., et al. The vaginal microbiota, human papillomavirus and cervical dysplasia: a systematic review and network meta-analysis. BJOG. 2019 Jun 25. doi: 10.1111/1471-0528.15854. [Epub ahead of print]
6. Koedooder R., et al. The vaginal microbiome as a predictor for outcome of in vitro fertilization with or without intracytoplasmic sperm injection: a prospective study. Hum Reprod. 2019 June; 34(6):1042-1054