Project description
A microbiota-based drug for tackling persistent intestinal infections
Clostridium difficile is a type of bacterium that infects the colon, causing diarrhoea and even inflammation-associated colitis. Antibiotic misuse may lead to recurrent infections, which are usually treated using live bacteria of faeces from healthy donors. The scope of the EU-funded FlexiBiome project is to overcome safety concerns associated with faecal microbiota therapy. The team are developing a standardised mixture of living intestinal bacteria of known composition and mode of action. The FlexiBiome product is efficient, cost-effective, its composition can be tailored to individual needs, and most importantly it avoids the risk of pathogen transmission.
Objective
PharmaBiome AG is an ETH Zurich spin-off company that was established in February 2015 after intense scientific interactions at ETH Zurich between highly qualified scientists and business professionals in the fields of biotechnology and gastroenterology. We envisioned a huge interest of the pharmaceutical industry in microbiome-based technologies.
Our primary target market focuses on patients suffering from recurrent Clostridium difficile infections (rCDI), which are usually a consequence of antibiotic use. Almost 900.000 cases of CDI in the EU and USA may occur each year bringing the acute-care direct costs of CDI to an estimated 4.5 billion € in 2008. The treatment consists of intestinal communities from faeces of healthy donors (Faecal Microbiota Therapy, FMT). However, FMT is not standardized as the contents that are present in the human stool vary from individual to individual and change over time. Moreover, there are safety concerns associated with FMT such as the transmission of the pathogenic microbes from improperly screened and handled stool. FMT is also associated with the need for a healthy donor in every case.
FlexiBiome will bring to the market a standardized therapeutic mixture of living intestinal bacteria as an alternative to FMT. Our innovation represents a safe (of a defined composition, clear mode of action), efficient (same functionality as FMT but using a controlled delivery), flexible (production is controlled, the product is storable and we will provide access to large markets) and targeted therapeutic to fight rCDI. Flexibiome will be 50 % cheaper than FMT therapy.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy drug discovery
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology bacteriology
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine gastroenterology inflammatory bowel disease
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine endocrinology diabetes
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.2.1.4. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies – Biotechnology
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.2.3.1. - Mainstreaming SME support, especially through a dedicated instrument
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-SMEInst-2016-2017
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
8092 ZURICH
Switzerland
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.