Recent Developments in Microbiome Therapeutics Recent-Developments-in-Microbiome-Therapeutics-Nov | Página 6

target Streptococcus mutans for the treatment of oral dysbiosis. The C16G2 peptide is currently undergoing Phase 2 Clinical trials under a US FDA IND application. In December 2016, the company revealed two new formulations, varnish and tooth strip, for the C16G2 product. To date, C3J Therapeutics has raised a total of $105 million via three rounds of funding. Skin Care Several companies are making good progress in providing microbiome based therapeutics for skin diseases. One such company is Azitra Inc 16 . Azitra’s core technology involves genetically engineering normal skin bacteria to express therapeutic proteins that need to be delivered to the skin. In April 2017, Azitra raised $2.9 million from a Series A funding round, which will be utilized in testing its lead candidate, AZT-01, across several skin conditions such as eczema, rare genetic skin diseases etc. as well as for cosmetic applications 17 . Naked Biome 18 is working towards developing probiotic treatments for acne, eczema, psoriasis and rosacea. The company is utilizing next generation sequencing techniques for profiling healthy and diseased skin to identify unique microbial signatures that naturally aid against diseases. Although still at the data gathering stage, Naked Biome has been selected for funding by the Illumina Accelerator. The company has raised a total of $9.4 million 19 since its inception, two years ago. A direct competitor of Naked Biome is SkinomiX 20 , also working on acne using similar techniques. No further information was available for SkinomiX. Xycrobe Therapeutics 21 is an early stage biotech company working towards converting the skin’s healthy bacteria into biotherapeutic delivery vehicles for treatment of inflammatory diseases of the skin. Xycrobe’s platform utilizes two naturally occurring skin bacteria – Propionibacterium acnes and an undisclosed species. In August 2016, Xycrobe entered into a research collaboration with Johnson & Johnson Innovation to develop future therapeutic and commercial applications of the Xycrobe platform 22 . Xycrobe is actively seeking investors so that it can perform animal and human pilot studies as well as set up a GMP facility for its xycrobes 23 . 16  https://azitrainc.com/ 17  http://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/skin-disease-biotech-azitra-closes-2-9m-series-a-for-microbiome-work 18  http://www.nakedbiome.com/ 19  https://pitchbook.com/profiles/naked-biome-profile-investors-funding-valuation-and-analysis 20  http://www.skinomix.com/ 21  http://www.xycrobe.com/home.html 22  h ttps://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/xycrobe-announces-research-collaboration-with-johnson--johnson- innovation-300313494.html 23  http://www.medstartr.com/project/detail/1307 6 Recent Developments in Microbiome Therapeutics