GHENT, Belgium, June 07, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MRM Health, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation live microbiome consortia therapeutics, announces the publication of preclinical research relating to its ongoing program in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), with a 9-strain live bacterial consortium resulting from its proprietary and unique CORAL platform technology.
The research was conducted in collaboration with the lab of leading experts Dr. Salvador Augustin (MD) and Dr. Maria Martell of the Liver Unit within the Department of Internal Medicine at the University Hospital of Vall d'Hebron (Barcelona, Spain). The work demonstrates that a live bacterial consortium of 9 rationally selected gut commensal strains was able to improve portal hypertension, insulin signaling and NAFLD activity score at histopathology and to prevent fibrosis development in two different in vivo disease models of Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH). The bacterial consortium also improved endothelial function and re-balanced the gut microbiome in the disease models.
NAFLD, and its progressive form NASH, is the hepatic manifestation of the metabolic syndrome and has a rapidly increasing prevalence, with about 20-30% of the general adult population suffering from NAFLD. Progression of NAFLD into NASH and cirrhosis becomes irreversible, yet no registered treatment is available to date. Leveraging on its breakthrough CORAL platform, MRM Health identified and developed the 9-strain bacterial consortium, based on a combination of mechanisms-of-action linked to NAFLD.
"These preclinical results are highly important as there are to date no approved therapies for NASH or portal hypertension and the field urgently needs new approaches," commented Dr. Maria Martell "Microbiome-based manipulation of the gut-liver axis can offer a completely novel treatment strategy for NASH and holds much promise for the full spectrum of liver disease".
"We believe live bacterial consortia have transformational potential for metabolic and liver diseases," said Nigel Horscroft, D.Phil., Chief Scientific Officer of MRM Health. "These recent advancements from MRM Health scientists and our academic partner highlight the potential of Live Biotherapeutic Products developed through our CORAL platform to impact serious diseases, including NASH and Ulcerative Colitis (UC), upon which existing therapeutic modalities have had little impact."
The results will also be presented as a poster at the International Liver Congress 2022 in London (UK), June 22-26, 2022.
Publication: Pinheiro et al. 2022, Biomedicines, A Nine-Strain Bacterial Consortium Improves Portal Hypertension and Insulin Signaling and Delays NAFLD Progression In Vivo)
About MRM Health
MRM Health NV, Ghent, Belgium, is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of next-generation optimized consortium therapeutics based on the human microbiome. The company has built a diversified pipeline with its proprietary CORAL platform to design, optimize, and manufacture bacterial consortia as single drug substance. Its most advanced program MH002 is an optimized consortium of 6 rationally-selected and well-characterized commensal strains. MH002 is currently being studied in a Phase 1b/2a study in patients with mild-to-moderate ulcerative colitis and a second clinical study is in start-up. Additional pipeline development includes a preclinical program in Parkinson's disease, preclinical programs in Type 2 Diabetes and in NAFLD (both partnered with IFF Nutrition Biosciences, previously DuPont), and a discovery program in autoimmune disease, including spondyloarthritis.
About CORAL
MRM Health's differentiating CORAL platform utilizes a bioinformatics-guided in-human discovery engine combined with a breakthrough in optimization and manufacturing of consortia as single drug substance. The proprietary consortia optimization technology allows to develop next-generation consortia therapeutics with faster onset-of-action and increased potency and robustness. The breakthrough scalable, robust, and standardized cGMP-compliant consortia manufacturing technology allows to manufacture complete therapeutic consortia as a single drug substance in a single manufacturing process which strongly surpasses existing approaches in speed, reduced complexity, increased robustness and lower cost.
For further information please contact:
Dr Sam Possemiers - CEO
Christiane Verhaegen - CFO
Phone: +32.9.277.08.50
info@mrmhealth.com
