Nestlé is one of the food giants in the World. Last Tuesday, it made a huge step in the microbiome industry by investing $65M in Boston-based Seres Health, one of the most advanced Biotech start-ups in the field. Will Nestlé take control of the promising microbiome industry?
Seres Health is a leading microbiome therapeutics platform company developing a novel class of biological drugs that are designed to treat diseases by restoring the function of a dysbiotic microbiome. Its lead candidate SER-109 is preventing the recurrence of Clostridium difficile infection. The drug is based on spores released into the stomach to repopulate the intestinal flora with “good” bacteria. Very smart and it seems to work well. The drug will enter into Phase 3 clinical trials and that’s one of the most advanced product in this emerging field.
Nestlé seems very interested in this growing field as stated Greg Behar, CEO of Nestlé Health Science:
“Nestlé Health Science has identified the microbiome as an area of strategic importance for our emerging novel therapeutics practice and we expect that investing in an industry leader like Seres Health will help us reach our ambitions of addressing health conditions in the area of Gastrointestinal, Metabolic and Brain Health. With its mission to produce innovative microbiome therapeutics for patients, Seres is an ideal investment for us as we move forward our goals of shaping new approaches to health management.”
An interesting move from a giant and an interesting opportunity for Seres Health to continue developing its pipeline and become even more a leader in the microbiome industry. I had the chance to visit Seres Health when I was in Boston and the company seemed very promising. Apparently, I was not the only one.