Company spotlight_Biostart Magazine

In my experience: Alex Goddard, AOBiome

May 1, 2019 Jane 0

A scientist by training, Alex Goddard has worked in large companies – namely Novartis’ neuroscience drug discovery division and in small companies including Tal Medical and AOBiome, where he currently serves as VP of Research & Development. He spoke to us about the main differences between the two.

My entry into industry at a big pharma was very edifying. My time at Novartis taught me how the industry prioritizes certain questions in science and showed me the key questions to ask. Novartis was good at providing opportunities to learn and they offered short courses on various aspects of drug discovery and drug development. One of the interesting structural aspects of big pharma is that…

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Collaboration, Translation And The Future Of Microbiome Innovation

April 17, 2019 root 0

Translation. When we hear this word, it may evoke feelings of excitement, adventure and possibility that come with learning different languages or travelling to a foreign country. For scientists, ‘translation’ also suggests moving research findings from the laboratory into clinical practice. Just as words are translated, so too are…

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Inside the mind of investors

Spotlight on: Seventure

April 10, 2019 Jane 0

Founded in 1997, Seventure is a European leader in venture capital, with €691 under management at the end of 2017. Operating primarily in Digital Technologies and Life Sciences, they’ve focused particularly on investing in microbiome, creating the first microbiome fund Health for Life. Since 2015, it has…

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Biostart-Magazine-Sitting-Down-With

David Kyle, Evolve Biosystems

March 27, 2019 Jane 0

Dr. David Kyle has co-founded biotech companies for 35 years in nutrition and health including Martek Biosciences which was acquired in 2011 for $1.1 billion. For the first issue of Biostart, he spoke to us about the lessons he’s learned during his career.

Where did Evolve begin?

Evolve’s work is based on 15 years of previous research at the University of California at Davis. A cross-functional team of world-class scientists made an incredible discovery. The early microbiome of the infant is defined by the 15% of energy in human breast milk that is not directly available to the infant, but rather it is tied up in a soluble fibre (Human Milk Oligosaccharides or HMO) that feeds the new-born infant gut microbiome.

Interestingly, only a single bacterial species, Bifidobacterial infantis, has the capability for completely consuming all those HMO and remarkably, this species has been lost from most infants in the developed world due primarily to a lifetime exposure to antibiotics. The seeding of an infant’s gut microbiome has historically come from its mother’s gut microbiome, but mothers in the U.S. today have had 15-20 courses of antibiotics from the time they were born until the time they deliver their first baby. Her microbiome diversity has been depleted significantly, including this important symbiont and if mom does not have the B. infantis, she cannot pass it on to her baby and the symbiosis has…

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Editor’s Note: The Microbiome Special

March 6, 2019 Jane 0

Oxford is an inspiring place to live. Aside from the dreaming spires, famous alumni and culture of learning, it is home to an impressive number of biotech start-ups. Coupled with Cambridge and London, the number of start-ups in the area is booming.

I moved to Oxford, not for university like most do, but instead to work with scientists, helping them disseminate their knowledge, first through academic publishing and later in the conference industry. It’s been my pleasure to meet with scientists from all over the world, not just from the UK, but from across Europe, North America and Asia to find out not only what excites them about the future of the industry, but to discuss…

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Defining The Microbiome Opportunity

February 20, 2019 root 0

One of the first challenges we encounter when considering the ‘Microbiome Opportunity’ is to describe exactly what we mean by it. Here, we visualize the opportunity as a multidimensional space that organizes itself along multiple axes.

We can start by picturing an axis of mechanistic insight leading from simple associations between microbiome-based manipulations and outcomes to actual causal relationships that can be rigorously translated into robust microbiome-based applications. Along this axis, the complexity of the biological information gathered…

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