PureTech Health : Announces Licensing Agreement between Commense and the University of British Columbia for Microbiome-Derived Therapy

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Obesity & Diabetes Week -- PureTech Health plc ("PureTech Health" or the "Company", LSE:PRTC), an advanced, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, is pleased to announce a licensing agreement between Commense, Inc. ("Commense"), a subsidiary of PureTech Health, and the University of British Columbia ("UBC") for a microbiome-based therapy directed toward the prevention of asthma and other allergic diseases that present in childhood. This live biotherapeutic product bolsters Commense's pipeline of novel therapeutic programs designed to nurture a healthy microbiome early in life (see also PureTech Health).

The licensed technology was developed at UBC by B. Brett Finlay, Ph.D., Co-Founder and Scientific Advisory Board Member of the Company, Stuart Turvey, MBBS, D.Phil, FRCPC, and their colleagues and is based on their research published in Science Translational Medicine. Based on analysis of a longitudinal study, Dr. Finlay and his colleagues identified a transient imbalance early in life in children with atopy, wheeze, and asthma of four specific bacterial taxa: Faecalibacterium, Lachnospira, Veillonella, and Rothia (FLVR). In preclinical models of airway inflammation, signs of respiratory diseases, such as asthma, were ameliorated when live FLVR was introduced to correct the imbalance. The potential protective influence of FLVR in the early development of a child's immune system and against the development of asthma could have a significant impact on non-infectious, chronic diseases in children and adults.

"Asthma is a lifelong chronic disease that affects the quality of life of over 25 million Americans. The impact of using a defined microbial intervention to potentially change the natural course of asthma and prevent many cases of the disease could be profound," said Fernando Martinez, MD, Director of the Asthma and Airway Disease Research Center at the University of Arizona and a Clinical Advisor to Commense. "The FLVR supplementation approach uses defined gut-derived bacterial consortia against allergy and asthma. If this approach were to be successful, it would be a key step forward."

"Nurturing a healthy microbiome early in life represents a novel strategy to significantly reduce the impact of chronic diseases like asthma, allergies, diabetes, and obesity," said Joe Bolen, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer for PureTech Health. "Brett's work and contributions with FLVR build upon our arsenal of microbiome-derived therapeutics and may potentially impact childhood health in an important way."

Commense programs are part of PureTech Health's growing pipeline in immunology and microbiome-based therapeutics. These programs leverage the core expertise PureTech Health has developed through its Vedanta Biosciences subsidiary, allowing for accelerated development. Commense anticipates initiation of human clinical trials in 2019.

Keywords for this news article include: Asthma, Therapy, Pediatrics, Chronic Disease, PureTech Health, Disease Attributes, Risk and Prevention, Pathologic Processes, Respiratory Hypersensitivity, Bronchial Diseases and Conditions, Marketing and Licensing Agreements, Immune System Diseases and Conditions, Obstructive Lung Diseases and Conditions.

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