Seres Therapeutics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (MD Anderson), and the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy (Parker Institute) has announced a collaboration to evaluate the potential of Seres’ microbiome therapies to improve the outcomes of cancer patients treated with currently-available immunotherapy.

Seres Therapeutics, Inc., is a leading microbiome therapeutics platform company developing a novel class of biological drugs that are designed to treat disease by restoring the function of a dysbiotic microbiome, where the natural state of bacterial diversity and function is imbalanced.

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston ranks as one of the world’s most respected centers focused on cancer patient care, research, education and prevention. The institution’s sole mission is to end cancer for patients and their families around the world. MD Anderson is one of only 47 comprehensive cancer centers designated by the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

The collaborators plan to initiate a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical study at MD Anderson, sponsored by the Parker Institute, in patients with advanced metastatic melanoma. The clinical trial will evaluate the impact of an anti-PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor with adjunctive microbiome therapy on patient outcomes.

Seres is developing SER-401, a preclinical stage oral microbiome therapy comprising a rationally-designed consortium of live bacteria, to improve the efficacy and safety of immunotherapy.

Seres also received an exclusive option with pre-defined financial terms to license intellectual property rights from MD Anderson related to the use of bacteria in combination with checkpoint inhibitors.

Roger J. Pomerantz, M.D., President, CEO and Chairman of Seres said, “MD Anderson, and in particular Dr. Wargo’s laboratory, is leading the charge to better understand the microbiome and the response to immune checkpoint inhibitors. We look forward to combining our insights and capabilities with both MD Anderson and the Parker Institute to advance microbiome therapies to augment Immunotherapy in cancer patients toward the clinic, with the ultimate goal of improving outcomes for patients facing life-threatening tumors with significant unmet medical need.”

Jennifer Wargo, M.D., Associate Professor of Genomic Medicine and Surgical Oncology at MD Anderson said, “Immunotherapy has represented an important advance for melanoma and other cancers. However, in the majority of patients, the response is not adequate to durably control disease. Modulation of the microbiome is a promising approach that may improve the therapeutic benefit of checkpoint therapy.”

Fred Ramsdell, Ph.D., Vice President of Research at the Parker Institute of Cancer Immunotherapy said, “This collaboration between the Parker Institute, Seres and MD Anderson exemplifies the mission of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy to unlock the promise of immunotherapy by rapidly progressing next generation treatments into clinical trials. If this novel approach is successful at altering the microbiome and more importantly, also leads to better cancer patient responses to immunotherapy, this would mark an important milestone for the entire field.”