Everything started with Pr. Harry Sokol (Professor of Gastroenterology, Saint Antoine Hospital in Paris) and his observations on patients. After comparing the gut microbiome from inflammatory bowel diseases patients to that of healthy subjects, he and his team identified the bacterium Faecalibacteriumprausnitzii as a key player in our health.
They discovered that patients suffering from inflammatory bowel diseases simply do not have the necessary microbiome to improve their conditions. Pr. Sokol partnered with Dr. Philippe Langella’s team (Research Director at INRAe) to study the then unexplored anti-inflammatory properties of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii. Together, they managed to isolate and select a superior strain before initiating the work on a new type of drug candidate. Pr. Patrick Gervais (Professor of Process Engineering at AgroSup in Dijon) then brought his unique expertise in the development of extremely-oxygen sensitive bacteria to the mission. Together, the team joined forces to attempt to grow the notoriously fastidious strain for therapeutic use, representing the next frontier in the field of microbiome-based therapeutics. In fact, we were the first to cross this frontier. After years spent developing our therapeutic solutions, we are coming back to where it all started: the patients with our first clinical trial.
Together, we will cross the next frontier to give patients, a fair chance to fight.
