Metanome Selected as Metagenomics Provider for Seres Health Clinical Trial

HOUSTON, Oct. 24, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Metanome, Inc., a Houston-based provider of comprehensive metagenomic services and data analysis, was the genomic sequencing provider for Seres Health's (Cambridge, Mass) Phase I/II clinical trial of SER 109, an Ecobiotic® therapeutic for the treatment of patients with recurrent Clostridium difficile infections (CDI).

Metanome has provided genomic sequencing services in support of Seres Health's R&D and clinical programs. Such genomic characterization has enabled the study of the microbiota residing in the gastrointestinal (GI) system, also known as the gut microbiome, in clinical trial subjects both pre- and post-treatment with SER-109.  These characterizations have facilitated the study of how treatment with Seres Health's Ecobiotic® therapeutic can repair the microbial imbalance in subjects with CDI and restore microbial diversity in patients with CDI. Data presented at the 2014 Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) show that in patients with recurrent CDI, SER-109 resulted in clinical cures, with 29 of the trial's 30 patients (97 percent) reaching the 8-week endpoint free of infection.

CDI is considered an urgent threat agent by the federal Centers of Disease Control and Prevention that is plaguing health care facilities and killing 14,000 people a year in the U.S.

Dr. Matthew Henn, Head of Therapeutic Design at Seres Health stated, "Metanome, Inc. has been a valuable corporate collaborator in our studies of the human microbiome delivering high-quality, genomic data in a timely manner. I've appreciated their responsiveness and willingness to work with Seres Health on meeting our various genomic characterization needs and look forward to continuing to work with Metanome to support our future sequencing efforts."

Dr. Joseph Petrosino, founder and president of Metanome and Director of the Alkek Center for Metagenomics and Microbiome Research at Baylor College of Medicine stated, "We value our relationship with Seres Health and the opportunity to collaborate with them to address a significant global health issue.  We are excited to offer our full array of microbiome and metagenomic capabilities during the upcoming Phase III clinical trial and other Seres Health projects. As our initial customer, Seres Health has helped us demonstrate our expertise in quickly generating data from large numbers of samples and subsequently transmitting results to our customer in a secure and efficient manner. We are eager to continue expanding these offerings and many others to the markets we serve." 

About Metanome™, Inc.
Metanome provides comprehensive metagenomic services and data analysis focused on solutions that benefit human health and improve environmental conditions and industrial processes worldwide. The company is a BCM Technologies, Inc. portfolio company.  Building on the research conducted at the Alkek Center for Metagenomics and Microbiome Research at Baylor College of Medicine, Metanome has extensive experience with highly diverse microbiome sample types.  For more information, please visit www.metanome.com.

Contact:
Michael Kaufman
[email protected]

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SOURCE Metanome, Inc.

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