CHAIN Biotechnology Ltd is a privately-held company developing microbiome technology to treat gut related diseases associated with inflammation and infection.

CHAIN uses harmless Clostridium bacteria as mini drug factories in the gut. Clostridia are naturally found in the gut where they break down dietary fibre and produce short-chain fatty acids that are important for gut health. CHAIN has assembled a team of Clostridia experts to engineer the bacteria to produce useful metabolites and biologics that confer further health benefits. The genetic instructions for production of each bio-active are only switched on during active growth in the gut. This supports direct delivery of the bio-active to where it can have the greatest effect.

CHAIN’s Clostridium-assisted drug delivery platform (CADD) supports the production and delivery of a wide range of bio-actives. CHAIN also works with partners to develop additional products. CADD is delivered as spores – dormant cells able to survive adverse conditions. These spores, formulated into tablets, pass through the acidic stomach before germinating in the large intestine. Here, they replicate and produce the helpful bio-active.

This approach to drug delivery overcomes many of the difficulties in delivering effective therapeutics to the lower gut. Spores do not require any cold storage and have a long shelf life. CHAIN’s technology has the potential to be highly disruptive both in terms of cost and efficacy for the treatment and prevention of chronic and debilitating gut related diseases, and for a range of other diseases linked to disturbances in the gut microbiome.