附近上门

Billions of microbial organisms鈥攂oth good and bad鈥攍ive in our guts.

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With research increasingly showing that the microbiome plays a large part in overall human health, more startups are launching in the field and venture investors have pumped $1 billion into U.S. companies working on gut microbiome projects in the past five years, according to 附近上门 data.

鈥淩esearch on the gut microbiome is extremely compelling, but it is still nascent and requires more,鈥� , founder and managing partner of , told 附近上门 News. 鈥淐ompanies are leveraging that research to make certain claims, including that some chronic illnesses are from a lack of diversity with the microbiome. Other research is looking into using the gut microbiome to diagnose disease.鈥�

Just getting started

Research on how the gut microbiome affects a person鈥檚 overall health is fairly new. The National Institutes of Health supported the from 2007 to 2016.

A in 2014 centered around transplanting the microbiome of an obese mouse into a lean mouse and vice versa, in what Katz called 鈥渢he moonshot heard around the world.鈥� Not only did the luster of the mouse鈥檚 fur get better with the lean microbiome, but markers of aging improved.

Then in 2016, President 鈥檚 administration created the aimed at understanding the microbiome and how it could be used in the areas of health care, food production and environmental restoration.

鈥淭he Human Genome Project was the inflection point for genomics, and Obama鈥檚 project did the same for the microbiome after key publications and discoveries were made,鈥� , co-founder and co-CEO at , said in an interview. 鈥淧eople started to care when they discovered that the microbiome could help you get thinner, look better and live longer.鈥�

However, research on the microbiome, like the one with the mice, gets conflated with gut health. In this instance, it鈥檚 very rare to see a scientific field this early in its trajectory have such public awareness, Katz said.

鈥淲e already know that a diverse plant fiber leads to a diverse gut microbiome, and we know there isn鈥檛 one healthy microbiome, but billions,鈥� she added. 鈥淧eople are starting to understand there are actionable things they can do to impact their health that don鈥檛 require 20 years of science.鈥�

Startups are doing research themselves to figure out what the microbiome can do, and a number of products are already in the market and commercialized. These include analyzing how microbiomes work, creating probiotics, and at-home testing kits where users provide a stool sample. A lab sequences the sample and recommendations are made, such as what supplements to take to balance the microbiome.

Sunnyvale, California-based touts itself as 鈥渢he first consumer gut health program,鈥� providing microbiome sequencing tests and personalized recommendations for food ingredients and customized probiotic formulas under its brand, said , Thryve鈥檚 lead research scientist, via email.

The company has raised $1.4 million in venture capital since forming in 2016, according to Thryve鈥檚 附近上门 profile, and its goal is to improve the microflora over time by promoting retesting among customers after introducing a new intervention.

There are a number of at-home testing providers, and Daniels said the landscape has diversified beyond just genetic sequencing.

鈥淥ther markets now span from testing for environmental exposure to at-home diagnostics,鈥� she added. 鈥淭hese emerging niches complement sequencing ventures and build a broader picture of wellness for consumers. It’s fantastic to see other new entrants in this space to help foster a greater culture of at-home testing for an even wider audience while also driving down costs to improve accessibility for all of those who are interested.鈥�

Food as medicine

Another aspect of research around the gut microbiome involves the concept of 鈥渇ood as medicine.鈥�

Venice, California-based Seed Health formed in 2016, launched its first consumer probiotic in 2017, and then its first therapeutics work in 2019, Katz said. It has raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding, according to 附近上门 data.

There is a deeper understanding of not only the gut, but other microbiomes, too, she said. That includes, for example, how a child鈥檚 digestive system develops and if that leads to allergies or asthma.

鈥淚t also confirms thinking people have of moving away from traditional medicine,鈥� she said. 鈥淗ippocrates is famous for saying, 鈥楢ll disease starts in the gut.鈥� The belief is that the gut connects to all systemic health.鈥�

, managing director at , agrees. He sees food being a tool for health and wellness, and his firm has invested in startups working in this space, such as , he said in an interview. Solarea was formed in 2017 and is developing new microbiome-based applications for inflammation in the gut. It has raised about $11.2 million in venture-backed funding.

There is a new wave of general wellness that bridges food and medicine, where some food-based ingredients have equal efficacy on par with medicine, he said.

鈥淲e see a lot of companies, but everyone鈥檚 microbiome is different and has individualized solutions, so distribution channel issues make that a different endeavour,鈥� Walker added. 鈥淵ou need to find a series of products that can be given to a wide variety of people.鈥�

What鈥檚 next

It鈥檚 no secret that most supplements carry a caveat that certain statements made on the bottle were not evaluated by the , nor are they intended to diagnose or treat disease.

The gut microbiome industry heavily relies on evidence-based research to drive the field forward, Daniels said. Thryve, for example, uses it as a directory for reporting the function of each microbe reported in the customer’s sample.

Katz acknowledges that there needs to be more precision in the field and that progress has been faster than originally expected. She believes the market is just getting started and certain aspects of the field are crowded, like probiotics, while there is more to be done on the biotherapeutics side.

鈥淎s we move toward more solutions that get approved by the FDA, like women鈥檚 health, that trickles down for people understanding there is real potential,鈥� Katz said. Hopefully as science advances, there will be clear distinctions between evangelism and evidence.鈥�

Meanwhile, Germin8鈥檚 Lavin cautions that some companies in the space are marketing their products with little evidence that they actually enhance health. In addition, it is not yet known how sustainable certain supplements are in the body.

For example, not all probiotics are sustainable: many die before they reach the appropriate part of the gut, he said. In addition, humans share approximately 10 percent of the microbiome, so customized options will be key.

鈥淲e are not interested in snake oil supplements or table stakes solutions, we want people to reap the full benefits,鈥� Lavin said. 鈥淭here is still a lot to do here. We see this space like companies that use a satellite to map. We are in the 1.0 phase, and we are looking for the 鈥樷�� to come along and be the step-by-step coach to tell people where they need to go. That will be the success of this sector.鈥�

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