Recent Developments in Microbiome Therapeutics Recent-Developments-in-Microbiome-Therapeutics-Nov | Page 14

Conclusion The past few years have been abuzz with activity in the Microbiome Therapeutics domain. The amount of research being conducted in the domain is increasing steadily 63 . Several companies have completed preclinical studies for their lead candidates and the stage is set for human trials. The first drugs targeting the gut microbiome could hit the market as early as 2020. However, failures such as the one faced by Seres in 2016 with the Phase 2 trial of SER-109, as well as regulatory hurdles could delay the launch of commercial drugs in the space. The US FDA and European Medicines Agency have very little experience in evaluating live bacteria as therapeutics causing another level of regulatory challenge. Also, not all big pharma giants are joining the microbiome therapeutics bandwagon, making it more of a wait and watch game. 63 Data based on search conducted on the PubMed database. 14 Recent Developments in Microbiome Therapeutics