Precision Microbiome Therapeutics and
Nutrition

Modulating the production of specific metabolites by the gut microbiome to improve human health.

About MedBiome

MedBiome develops Precision Microbiome Therapeutics and Precision Microbiome Nutrition products that modulate the production of specific metabolites produced by the human gut microbiome. Changes in the levels of specific metabolites affect both wellness and disease and the ability to modulate the levels of such metabolites will enable the treatment of multiple diseases such as IBD, CKD, AD and CRC.

Each microbiome is unique, and individuals may respond differently to treatment. Therefore, we believe that personalized, or precision therapeutics and nutritional products represent the most attractive approach to product development.

MedBiome’s core technology, called RapidAIM, enables the ex vivo discovery and characterization of therapeutic or nutritional products that modulate individual, live microbiomes.  RapidAIM provides unprecedented insight into the metabolism of the microbiome.  This insight enables the discovery of compounds that target the production of specific metabolites by the human microbiome. RapidAIM can therefore be used to:

  • Discover novel drugs, biologics, and nutritional products that act through the microbiome.
  • Characterize and de-risk existing products and compounds.
  • Stratify patients based on their microbiome responses.
  • Determine how drugs affect the microbiome.
  • Determine how the microbiome affects drugs.
  • Fully investigate both the function and the composition of the microbiome.

MedBiome is using RapidAIM to discover and develop Precision Microbiome Therapeutics and Precision Microbiome nutrition products that target the human microbiome to modulate the production of specific metabolites, metabolic pathways and enzymes.

MedBiome is developing compounds that target the human microbiome in four disease areas, all with significant unmet medical needs. These include:

  • Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).
  • Early-stage Alzheimer’s Disease (AD).
  • Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD).
  • Colorectal Cancer (CRC).

Our mission.

Our mission is to improve human health via modulation of the microbiome. 

There is a strong relationship between the human gut microbiota and human health.  The human gut microbiome produces metabolites involved in health and disease. Understanding how drugs affect the production of metabolites by the gut microbiome will transform how we conduct drug development and will lead to the development of Precision Microbiome Therapeutics.

Our Team

Daniel Figeys, Ph.D.

Co-founder & President

dfigeys@medbiome.ca
Professor, University of Ottawa

Daniel Figeys, Ph.D. is Director and a Professor in the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Ottawa. He is a Distinguished Research Chair in Proteomics and Systems Biology. He was the founding Director of the Ottawa Institute of Systems Biology and directed the institute for 10 years. Prior to joining the University of Ottawa, Daniel was Senior Vice President Systems biology and Lead Profiling at MDS-Proteomics, a privately held company. Daniel obtained a B.Sc. and a M.Sc. in chemistry from the Université de Montréal. He obtained a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Alberta and did his postdoctoral studies at the University of Washington. His laboratory has published over 200 articles and has been cited over 19,000 times.

Shane Climie, Ph.D.

vp, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Shane Climie, Ph.D. is a Principal with Popper and Company, which is focused on building life science organizations by meeting the needs of entrepreneurial, life science startups and the investors that support those early stage organizations. He is also President of Shane Climie & Associates which is focused on the provision of consulting services to life science companies. Dr. Climie is also Vice President of Business Development at MedBiome Inc. where he is responsible for corporate development, strategy and partnering. Dr. Climie also serves as Vice President of Corporate Development at Cyclica Inc. where he supports company growth by managing corporate relationships and strategic planning. Dr. Climie has more than 25 years of R&D and business development experience in the life sciences and pharmaceutical industry. He has led research teams involved in all aspects of drug discovery and technology development, and has designed, negotiated and managed many R&D collaborations. He has extensive experience in technology evaluation, technology development and strategic planning. Dr. Climie has been a Principal at Popper and Company for 13 years where he has provided interim executive management services to early-stage biotechnology companies in the areas of diagnostics and drug discovery / drug development as well as support in the areas of business management, marketing strategy and technology or opportunity assessment. Prior to his current appointments, Dr. Climie held several positions at Protana (formerly MDS Proteomics) including Senior Vice President of Science Strategy and Business Development, Senior Vice President of Research Collaborations, and Vice President of Proteomics and Business Development. Dr. Climie was also co-founder, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of MDS Ocata and was a Visiting Research Scientist at the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute. Prior to that, Dr. Climie held several managerial positions at Allelix Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. including Principal Scientist. Dr. Climie completed postdoctoral work at the University of California at San Francisco and received a Ph.D. in Medical Biophysics from the University of Toronto.

Alain Stintzi, Ph.D.

Co-founder & CSO

astintzi@medbiome.ca
Professor and Vice Dean, University of Ottawa

Alain Stintzi, Ph.D. is a professor with the Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, a member of the Ottawa Institute of Systems Biology, and Vice-Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa. Dr. Stintzi obtained his Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biology at the Louis-Pasteur University, France (1997). He was subsequently a Postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Chemistry, University of California at Berkeley. In 2000, he was appointed Assistant Professor at the Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Oklahoma State University. Dr. Stintzi has considerable experience in systems biology approaches to study the role of the gut microbiota in infectious and chronic diseases. Dr. Stintzi has published over 110 articles and book chapters and has contributed to more than 150 scientific and educational conferences.

David Mack, M.D. FRCPC

Co-founder


Professor, Department of Pediatrics, University of Ottawa
Director, CHEO Inflammatory Bowel Disease Centre
Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario(CHEO)

Dr. Mack is currently a Professor with the Department of Pediatrics in the Faculty of Medicine, at the University of Ottawa; Director of the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) Inflammatory Bowel Disease Centre. He is the Pediatric Lead of the Clinical Affairs Committee of the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology and currently Deputy-Chair of the Canadian Children Inflammatory Bowel Disease Network. Dr. Mack obtained his medical degree from the University of Toronto in 1983. He was appointed to faculty at the University of Nebraska School of Medicine in the United States in 1991. Dr. Mack completed his Pediatric Residency training at CHEO, and Residency training and Pediatric Gastroenterology Fellowship at the Hospital for Sick Kids in Toronto. His research Interests include pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease and the intestinal microbiome in pediatric Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.