Symberix is an early-stage company pioneering the discovery of a new class of drugs designed to safely and selectively target the microbiome, the trillions of beneficial bacteria in symbiosis with the human host. The microbiome contributes fundamentally to both human health and illness. Until now the only way to control a disease-causing component of microbiome activity is with antibiotics, but antibiotics also harm the beneficial bacteria essential for human health. The firm is planning to discover and develop what may be the first examples of bacteria-targeted drugs that are not antibiotics. The initial therapeutic focus of Symberix is the prevention of clinically serious side effects of certain pain and cancer medications in the lower gastrointestinal tract (diarrhea, anemia, intestinal bleeding) caused by a bacterial enzyme in the microbiome. The original technology was licensed from University of North Carolina, based on breakthrough research led by the Company's scientific founder, Dr. Matt Redinbo, and originally published in Science (2010).
