MaaT Pharma and Lutech Sign Licensing Agreement on Microbiome Therapy for Graft-vs-Host Disease

MaaT Pharma announced a licensing agreement under which MaaT Pharma will receive world-wide exclusive rights for the therapeutic application of allogeneic Fecal Microbiome Transplants (FMT) to treat acute Graft-vs-Host Disease (GvHD) in patients following stem cell transplantation. The technology is based on research performed within the Clinical Hematology Department at Saint-Antoine Hospital and Sorbonne University, Paris, France. The license builds the foundation for MaaT Pharma’s MaaT013 program for which the company recently received authorization from the French regulatory authorities to launch a multicenter Phase 2 study in acute GvHD. GvHD is a major complication of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in which the donor’s immune effector cells attack the recipient’s tissue, causing inflammation, severe damage and often death.

“A high diversity in microbiome species has been associated with increased survival in GvHD after stem cell transplantation and we believe that we have found a way to leverage this finding for the benefit of patients,” said Prof. Mohty, head of the Clinical Hematology Department at Saint-Antoine Hospital and Sorbonne University, in Paris, and past-president of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT). “With its extensive experience in providing reproducible and stable drug products, MaaT Pharma can advance this highly promising drug candidate that has been developed to deliver an enriched and diverse microbiome transplant. It is exciting to support the company in its vision to change medical practice by leveraging the potential of microbiome drugs.”

“The license agreement complements our existing patent estate covering our technology platform and next-generation FMT drugs, developed together with our medical and scientific co-founders Prof. Mohty and Dr. Joel Doré, Research Director at INRA,” said Hervé Affagard, CEO and co-founder of MaaT Pharma. “Our goal is to provide microbiome-based solutions for severe and life-threatening diseases, with an initial focus on blood cancer related-disorders. The GvHD program, for which we are on track to treat the first patient in a Phase 2 study in the near future, underscores the efforts of the entire MaaT Pharma team.”

MaaT Pharma has developed a unique cGMP platform for next generation FMTs that are based on allogeneic donor material and tailored to disease treatment needs through a thorough analytical screening and reproducible production process. In parallel, the company is developing FMT drugs to prolong survival in acute myeloid leukemia patients by reintroducing a functional microbiome after chemotherapy. A Phase 1/2 study launched in 2016 is being concluded and results to establish proof-of-concept are expected over this summer.