The alliance counts BIOASTER, Biocodex, Biofortis, biose Industrie, Da Volterra, Eligo, Health For Life Capital, Lyonbiopôle and INRAe as founding members that also includes research institutes and business clusters.
Other organisations joining the group include MaaT Pharma, Nexbiome, NovoBiome, TargEDys, Pharmabiotic Research Institute, Seventure Partners and Ysopia bioscience.
“It is essential to structure a microbiota sector in France now,” say members of the Alliance Promotion Microbiote in a joint statement.
“This market is not only strategic but also extremely promising in terms of investments, jobs and France's influence internationally.
“Despite France's great assets in this area, only three French companies have initiated phase II clinical trials.”
France’s microbiota interests
The alliance is formed as the sector is in the midst of rapid growth, buoyed on by new therapeutic applications based on the microbiota.
These innovations exploit the most recent technological advances that include artificial intelligence and high throughput genetic sequencing that have driven down initial costs as well as speeding up the discovery of genomic-based insights.
Conservative estimates by Global Data places the global market at around €1.08bn ($1.3bn) by 2026, and approximately €8.3bn ($10bn) in 2030.
The contributions made to the French economy are no less impressive with €111m raised by French start-ups in 2020 and €41m distributed in public funding for academic-based projects.
Commenting on the Alliance’s formation, Isabelle de Cremoux, President of Seventure Partners and the group’s only investor member said, “We want to draw the attention of the public authorities to this sector in France.”
“The United States has long understood all the potential and the means are being put in place, the companies listed on the Nasdaq are extremely well valued.
“France has fallen behind: we must wake up decision-makers, make them aware that with our research institutes and our business ecosystem, we have all the assets to become a world leader again.”
Grégory Lambert, CEO of TargEDys adds, “TargEDys technologies are stemming from collaborations with French academic institutes of research.
“Thanks to the trust of our investors we could develop and commercialise breakthrough microbiome-based solutions.
We represent the necessary bridge between all actors of the sector to bring the benefit of these new therapeutic approaches all the way to the consumers.”
Campus Biotech Digital
The Alliance represents another initiative launched by France’s most prominent public and private organisations working in this space and closely follows the creation of Campus Biotech Digital.
This initiative, which counts bioMérieux, Novasep, Sanofi and Servier amongst its industrial partners, looks to develop the skills and network to excel in the country’s considerable interests in the biotechnology sector.
Members of the alliance have also made notable gains of late in microbiome-based research. Lyon-based Maat Pharma for example recently revealed positive topline results from a clinical trial with lead microbiome ecosystem therapy MaaT013 in patients with acute graft-versus-host disease.
Meanwhile, TargEDys announced last year a set of positive results of a trial that looked into how the probiotic strain Hafnia alvei HA4597 was able to regulate appetite that resulted in significant weight loss.
“To become a major player in the medicine of tomorrow and not miss out on key industrial development opportunities, it is crucial to build a common approach with all the players involved, and quickly,” the alliance adds.
“This is the raison d'être of the Alliance Promotion Microbiote, which aims to develop but must already face the first crucial challenges, particularly in terms of regulatory and economic environments.”