- Has more than 40 novel natural compound derivatives to treat chronic inflammatory and autoimmune disease
- Focuses on the gut microbiome as an essential mediator in human health and disease
- Studying inflammatory bowel disease with possible obesity and type 2 diabetes links
What Pan-Biome Pharmaceuticals does:
Pan-Biome Pharmaceuticals Inc is a newly-formed pre-clinical biopharmaceutical company with over 40 novel natural compound derivatives that show promise for the treatment of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.
In July 2020, the private company was spun out from Derm-Biome Pharmaceuticals Inc, a Vancouver-based pre-clinical biopharma company focused on skin diseases and healthy ageing.
In pre-clinical studies, Pan-Biome's suite of compounds has been found to be well-tolerated and possess potent anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, antioxidant, and anti-tumor properties. The anti-microbial effects can help balance and diversify the gut microbiome, and the compounds also target over-acting cytokines that cause chronic inflammatory while activating antioxidant pathways.
The company says chronic inflammation progresses slowly and plays a significant role in many notable diseases and conditions, including heart disease, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, MS, neurodegenerative diseases, and asthma. And research suggests that an unbalanced gut microbiome can be linked to inflammatory bowel disease, obesity, type 2 diabetes, colon cancer, and depression.
How is it doing:
Pan-Biome kicked off 2021 with the February release of some positive findings from a pre-clinical trial of one of its oral drugs to treat inflammatory bowel disease.
The company announced that its drug produced “strong effects” in controlling gut microbiota in mice in a study run by the Gut4Health Microbiome Core at BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute in Vancouver. It said the compound caused a “distinct shift” in microbiota composition by increasing “good” bacteria while suppressing bacteria associated with the development of obesity and type 2 diabetes.
The compound also prompted a significant increase in the species Akkermansia muciniphila. It is a bacterium shown to elicit a wide range of positive health benefits, including reduced obesity and systemic inflammation, and improved gut barrier function.
That is a positive development, the company said, which could someday lead to a treatment that will make a big dent in the estimated US$480 billion spent annually on direct healthcare costs driven by chronic diseases like obesity.
Pan-Biome says the study of the human gut microbiome as an essential mediator in health and disease has emerged as one of the hottest areas of biomedical research, with numerous studies linking changes in the gut microbiota to several diseases and conditions. Recent studies also show a clear connection between an altered gut microbiome and severe coronavirus (COVID-19).
As a result of the positive preclinical findings, Pan-Biome said it has engaged its contract research organization to begin the Clinical Trial Application process as the company looks to move forward with an oral drug for human trials.
Currently, strategies to modulate the gut microbiome include probiotics, prebiotics, and fecal microbiota transplants.
Inflection points:
- Hold human trials to study oral drug for inflammatory bowel disease
- Advance studies of the gut microbiome
What the boss says:
“There is such an unmet need in this area. Obesity and obesity-related conditions are at epidemic levels in many parts of the world, so it is exciting to have our drug elicit such a positive change to the gut microbiome,” said CEO Gordon Eberwein, after the company released the preclinical trial findings.
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