The proposed acquisition – financials of which have not been divulged – will see Swiss pharma firm Ferring add Rebiotix’ Microbiota Restoration Therapy (MRT) drug platform, along with the lead product RBX2660, a non-antibiotic treatment in Phase III development for the prevention of recurrent Clostridium difficile infection (CDI).
According to the firm, RBX2660 – which has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Fast Track, Breakthrough Therapy and Orphan Drug Designations – has the potential to become the first human microbiome product approved anywhere in the world.
“Therapies targeted towards the microbiome have the potential to transform healthcare,” said Ferring’s CFO Michel Pettigrew.
Rebiotix’ MRT drug platform offers a stable way of manufacturing and delivering healthy, live, human-derived microbes into the gastrointestinal tract, the firm says.
Abnormalities in the human gut microbiota have been implicated in many diseases. In addition to C. diff., researchers worldwide are investigating possible links between the gut microbiota and other infectious, metabolic, liver, inflammatory, and neurological diseases.