Cork-based biotech spinout SeqBiome will provide firms with insights into how food and ingredients interact with our gut microbiome after spinning out from APC Microbiome Ireland, SFI Research Centre, University College Cork and Teagasc.
The firm will provide high-quality and interactive sequencing and microbiome analysis services for academia and industry and already boast an impressive list of clients including Atlantia, Microbion, PrecisionBiotics Group, Mars Petcare, Nestlé and the Alpinia Institute.
Based on a team of co-founders with more than 40 years of combined published microbiome experience and over 350 papers and 23,000 citations, SeqBiome will provide a ‘comprehensive’ offering that spans the microbiome continuum – with an aim of creating meaningful microbiome insights for clients across industries including pharmaceuticals, nutrition, sport and healthcare.
SeqBiome co-founder and CEO Dr Marcus Claesson said the spin-out is building a vastly experienced team with a shared vision to help its clients develop world class products that make a real difference to microbiome health.
“For many pharma, nutrition, sport, agriculture and healthcare companies, microbiome analysis is a complex and time-consuming process,” he commented.
“It requires the support of expensive sequencing facilities, significant computational power and an extensive expertise in bioinformatic analysis and interpretation. Without these in-house capabilities, commercial organisations struggle to derive meaningful and reliable information about their products and their impact on microbiomes,” he added.
SeqBiome will be dedicated to custom sequencing and bioinformatic analysis of microbiome-related samples, such as testing the effects of new and existing therapeutic or nutritional products.
The spinout will offer services including biostatistical and bioinformatic analysis, sample processing, compositional and functional microbe analysis and statistical study design to companies and research institutes.
“We are incredibly excited to officially launch SeqBiome and provide a range of world class sequencing and analysis services to support our clients with these challenges,” said Claesson.
Professor Anita Maguire, VP Research & Innovation at University College Cork (UCC) said the launch of SeqBiome, as the most recent spin-out company to emerge based on the research within APC Microbiome Ireland, is ‘very welcome.’
“Bringing this capability in sequencing and bioinformatic analysis of microbiome to commercial reality is a tremendous milestone for those involved in this research area within APC,” she noted.
SeqBiome is the latest spinout associated with the UCC and APC Microbiome Ireland. The company follows in the footsteps of multiple well-known spinouts including leading contract research organisation (CRO Atlantia Food Clinical Trials, Live Biotherapeutic Products specialist Artugen Therapeutics, 4D Pharma Cork Limited (formerly Tucana Health Limited -now part of 4D Pharma PLC), and PrecisionBiotics – a 2002 spinout recently acquired by Novozymes.
