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posted by cmn32480 on Monday August 01 2016, @10:31AM   Printer-friendly
from the ah-crap dept.

Although the incidence of hospital-onset Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) may be declining slightly, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that close to half a million cases still occur in the United States each year. Multiple relapses also remain common, with approximately 30 percent of patients experiencing at least one recurrence two to four weeks after completing standard antibiotic therapy. Patients who have one recurrence are at high risk of multiple additional recurrences, with a 60 percent chance of relapse after the third recurrence. These patients tend to have poor outcomes and present major clinical challenges.

Seres Therapeutics ($MCRB) has suffered a sizable setback to its microbiome R&D ambitions. In a Phase II trial, the oral microbiome therapeutic SER-109 failed to outperform a placebo in terms of cutting the risk of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI), leaving the biotech scraping through the results in search [of] a path forward for the program.

[...] The fallout from the setback could extend well beyond Seres, which has been held up as an example of the potential of the microbiome sector, both from a financial and therapeutic perspective. In the good times, such as after Seres pulled off a $134 million IPO, the company has delivered a sector-wide boost to the nascent field.

http://www.mayoclinic.org/medical-professionals/clinical-updates/digestive-diseases/study-confirms-safety-efficacy-of-ser-109
http://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/seres-shares-crash-after-microbiome-drug-flunks-phii
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clostridium_difficile_colitis


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  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Monday August 01 2016, @11:20AM

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Monday August 01 2016, @11:20AM (#382573) Journal

    So poop-to-ass transplantation is the only effective therapy left in the nascent field? Or do we doubt that one too?

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 01 2016, @12:01PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 01 2016, @12:01PM (#382582)

    no. "eat shit" is the other one.

    there is still the bacteriophage break through waiting in the drawer for that time when the "shit" sits infront of their family mansion of the hyper rich and the right person has been elected to join their ranks.

    then the draw will be opened in secracy and "bacteriophage" therapy will replace "antibiotics" and the world will have one more kabal supporting rich person ...

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 01 2016, @12:38PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 01 2016, @12:38PM (#382589)

    Not exactly.

    I can't speak to the specifics of this trial, but I've seen difficult to treat (like going on for years) cases of C-Diff FINALLY responding to a combination of probiotic treatments. It may have also been dumb luck, but regardless a silver bullet approach is probably a long ways off, but that doesn't mean SER-109 couldn't be useful with other approaches (saw similar examples with ma huang being discredited for treatment of enlarged prostate, but it was successful in treating mild cases and helped the efficacy of more traditional treatments in severe cases).

    It might also be time to pull a page out of the Kellogg handbook and try yogurt enemas.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 01 2016, @12:43PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 01 2016, @12:43PM (#382590)

      Edit- Saw Palmetto. Ma huang is contraindicated for enlarged prostate.

      Too many drugs too keep track of.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 01 2016, @06:38PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 01 2016, @06:38PM (#382737)

    No a poop-to-cranium transplant has been show to improve reasoning skills in 87% of presidential candidates.