MicroBiome Therapeutics is an early stage company based in Broomfield, CO that is developing drugs that affect the microbiome in beneficial ways. They are currently investigating diabetes and obesity, which has led them to study the diabetes drug metformin.

Metformin is the most popular drug for people with type 2 diabetes, however it often causes diarrhea in 20% of those who take it. MicroBiome Therapeutics has developed a drug that is a combination of metformin and a proprietary secondary component (maybe a probiotic or prebiotic of some sort?). In recent clinical trials their drug proved to help diabetic patients better control their blood glucose levels than metformin with a placebo co-administered. The next step is to increase the size of clinical trials and eventually reach FDA approval.

This is very exciting news not only for diabetics but for microbiome scientists. It is a direct application of microbiome research to improve an existing drug, and thus improve the quality of life for patients. We at the AMI are excited to see what happens with this drug, and we look forward to all the microbiome drugs that are in the development pipeline.