At the Pharmabiotics Conference, Marta Ciechonska of Salient Bioscience presented the company’s approach to developing standardized, reproducible microbiome tests based on shotgun metagenomic sequencing. 

The London-based B2B company currently offers white-label gut, oral and vaginal microbiome tests for the wellness market in the United Kingdom and European Union, while also investing in microbiome-based diagnostics. Its most advanced clinical project is a non-invasive test for inflammatory bowel disease developed through Signal, Salient Bioscience’s proprietary microbiome signature discovery platform. 

Combining clinically annotated patient data, standardized laboratory procedures, custom bioinformatics pipelines, the Guttrace database and machine-learning algorithms, the test has reportedly achieved 96% diagnostic accuracy. 

The company plans to submit the assay for MHRA certification and is also working to differentiate Crohn’s disease from ulcerative colitis, with the aim of supporting faster and more precise diagnosis.