Bacteria can be engineered to metabolize inflammation by-products for the treatment of inflammation-mediated diseases. We created a spin-off company to translate bioengineered Escherichia coli Nissle into a live therapeutic product, navigating translational, regulatory and biotech mindset challenges. Here, I provide some generalizable insights into academic entrepreneurship.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 digital issues and online access to articles
$119.00 per year
only $9.92 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to the full article PDF.
USD 39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Brown, K. et al. Prolonged antibiotic treatment induces a diabetogenic intestinal microbiome that accelerates diabetes in NOD mice. ISME J. 10, 321–332 (2016).
Quin, C. et al. Probiotic supplementation and associated infant gut microbiome and health: a cautionary retrospective clinical comparison. Sci. Rep. 8, 8283 (2018).
Zmora, N. et al. Personalized gut mucosal colonization resistance to empiric probiotics is associated with unique host and microbiome features. Cell 174, 1388–1405.e21 (2018).
Gibson, D., Godovannyi, A. & Gill, S. Probiotic compositions and uses thereof. US patent 11,684,643 B2 (2023).
Ye, J. et al. Metabolomics-guided hypothesis generation for mechanisms of intestinal protection by live biotherapeutic products. Biomolecules 11, 738 (2021).
Verdugo-Meza, A. et al. Bio-engineering a common probiotic to exploit colonic inflammation promotes reliable efficacy in translational models of colitis. Preprint at bioRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.10.08.617317 (2024).
Razavi, S., Janfaza, S., Tasnim, N., Gibson, D. L. & Hoorfar, M. Microencapsulating polymers for probiotics delivery systems: preparation, characterization, and applications. Food Hydrocoll. 120, 106882 (2021).
Razavi, S., Janfaza, S., Tasnim, N., Gibson, D. L. & Hoorfar, M. Nanomaterial-based encapsulation for controlled gastrointestinal delivery of viable probiotic bacteria. Nanoscale Adv. 3, 2699–2709 (2021).
Suez, J., Zmora, N., Segal, E. & Elinav, E. The pros, cons, and many unknowns of probiotics. Nat. Med. 25, 716–729 (2019).
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to my trainees and scientific staff for their invaluable contributions. I extend particular thanks to the co-founders, R. Emlyn and C. Zhou, whose vision and recognition of the commercial potential were instrumental in establishing Melius MicroBiomics. I also thank K. Horgan and E. Mayer for their guidance and critical review of this article. Finally, I acknowledge the support of our investors, whose commitment has enabled the translation of laboratory innovations across the valley of death.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
D.L.G. is a co-founder of Melius MicroBiomics, a University of British Columbia (UBC) spin-off company that has licenced the UBC technology under the following patents: PCT/CA2018/050188, D.L. Gibson, A. Godovanny, S.K. Gill, A. Verdugo, Designer probiotics engineered to efficiently colonize the gut for effective inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) therapy, Tech Transfer October 2024 with Melius MicroBiomics; and 63/704,043 (patent pending). D.L.G. has founding shares in Melius MicroBiomics.
Additional information
Related links
Melius MicroBiomics: https://www.mmblivebio.com/
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gibson, D.L. Bioengineering a live biotherapeutic product from bench to business. Nat Rev Bioeng 3, 917–919 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44222-025-00370-x
Published:
Version of record:
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44222-025-00370-x
