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Translating microbiome futures

Nature Biotechnology volume 36, pages 1037–1042 (2018)Cite this article

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A group of microbiome researchers discuss some of the challenges in developing a new generation of microbiome therapies.

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Figure 1: Over the past five years, the scientific output in the microbiome field and the number of microbiome-related published patents has been steadily rising.
Figure 2: The microbiome investment landscape.
Figure 3: New microbiome-related companies have been steadily founded, and the number of partnerships in the field has grown exponentially.

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  • 19 November 2018

    In the HTML version of this article initially published online, Box 1 was missing. The error has been corrected online as of 19 November 2018.

References

  1. Fankhauser, M., Moser, C. & Nyfeler, T. Patents as early indicators of technology and investment trends: analyzing the microbiome space as a case study. Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol. 6, 84 (2018).

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  2. University of Chicago Technology Commercialization. Polsky Microbiome – Venture Funding Data. https://polsky.uchicago.edu/microbiome-research-at-uchicago/ (2018).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gaspar Taroncher-Oldenburg is at Global Engage Ltd, Kidlington, Oxford, UK.,

    Gaspar Taroncher-Oldenburg

  2. Susan Jones is at Nature Biotechnology, London, UK.,

    Susan Jones

  3. Martin Blaser is at the New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, New York, USA.,

    Martin Blaser

  4. Richard Bonneau is at the Center for Genomics and Systems Biology, New York University, New York, New York, USA, and the Flatiron Institute, Center for Computational Biology, Simons Foundation, New York, New York, USA.,

    Richard Bonneau

  5. Peter Christey is at General Automation Lab Technologies, Inc (GALT), San Carlos, California, USA.,

    Peter Christey

  6. Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, José C. Clemente is at the Icahn Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.,

    José C Clemente

  7. Eran Elinav is in the Immunology Department, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.,

    Eran Elinav

  8. Elodie Ghedin is at the Center for Genomics & Systems Biology, New York University, New York, New York, USA.,

    Elodie Ghedin

  9. Curtis Huttenhower is at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston Massachusetts, USA.,

    Curtis Huttenhower

  10. Denise Kelly is at Seventure Partners, Paris, France.,

    Denise Kelly

  11. David Kyle is at Evolve BioSystems Inc, Davis, California, USA.,

    David Kyle

  12. Dan Littman is at the Kimmel Center for Biology and Medicine of the Skirball Institute and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA.,

    Dan Littman

  13. Arpita Maiti is in Worldwide Research & Development, Pfizer, Inc, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.,

    Arpita Maiti

  14. Alexander Maue is at Taconic Biosciences, Renssaelaer, New York, USA.,

    Alexander Maue

  15. Bernat Olle is at Vedanta Biosciences, Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.,

    Bernat Olle

  16. Leopoldo Segal is in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA.,

    Leopoldo Segal

  17. Johan E. T. van Hylckama Vlieg is at Chr. Hansen, Hoersholm, Denmark.,

    Johan E T van Hylckama Vlieg

  18. Jun Wang is at iCarbonX, Zhonghang Shahe Industrial Zone, Shenzhen, China.,

    Jun Wang

Authors
  1. Gaspar Taroncher-Oldenburg
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  2. Susan Jones
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  3. Martin Blaser
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  4. Richard Bonneau
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  5. Peter Christey
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  6. José C Clemente
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  7. Eran Elinav
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  8. Elodie Ghedin
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  9. Curtis Huttenhower
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  10. Denise Kelly
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  11. David Kyle
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  12. Dan Littman
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  13. Arpita Maiti
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  14. Alexander Maue
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  15. Bernat Olle
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  16. Leopoldo Segal
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  17. Johan E T van Hylckama Vlieg
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  18. Jun Wang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gaspar Taroncher-Oldenburg.

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Competing interests

G.T.-O. is consultant-in-residence at Global Engage and became an advisor to the Janssen Human Microbiome Institute after completion of Microbiome Futures; M.B. serves on the scientific advisory boards of Elysium, Inc, Ubiome, Inc., Commense, Inc. and Seed, Inc.; R.B. has served as an expert witness for Kirkland and Ellis LLC, in advisory and consulting roles to the Simons Foundation, Novartis, Eli Lilly and Merus, and is currently collaborating with Novartis and Merus; P.C. is CEO and Co-Founder of General Automation Lab Technologies, Inc.; E.E. is a scientific consultant to DayTwo & BiomX; C.H. serves on the scientific advisory boards of Seres Therapeutics and Microbiome Insights; D. Kyle is an employee of, and owns shares in, Evolve BioSystems Inc.; D.L. is founder of and advisor to Vedanta, Director at Pfizer, Inc., and a recipient of research funding for microbiota projects from Boehringer Ingelheim; A. Maiti is an employee of Pfizer Inc.; A. Maue is an employee of Taconic Biosciences; B.O. is an employee of Vedanta Biosciences, a company developing drugs in the human microbiome field, and holds stock options in the company; J.E.T.v.H.V. is an employee of Chr. Hansen A/S; J.W. is founder & CEO of iCarbonX.

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Taroncher-Oldenburg, G., Jones, S., Blaser, M. et al. Translating microbiome futures. Nat Biotechnol 36, 1037–1042 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.4287

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