Owlstone Medical, a diagnostics company developing a breathalyzer for disease, today announced it has signed a master service agreement with 4D Pharma plc (AIM:DDDD), a pharmaceutical company focusing on the development of live biotherapeutics. As part of the agreement, 4D Pharma will use Owlstone Medical’s Biomarker Services to discover novel non-invasive biomarkers present in breath that can be applied to the development of effective therapeutics for a wide range of diseases from cancer, to gastrointestinal, autoimmune, and respiratory conditions.
The pattern of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) present in exhaled breath is directly linked to the metabolic processes taking place within the body as well as exogenous sources such as an individual’s microbiome, the many millions of bacteria that colonize the body and play an important role in health and disease.
4D Pharma PLC (LON:DDDD) is developing live biotherapeutics, a revolutionary class of medicines that harness the functionality of the microbiome. The company is using Owlstone Medical’s Biomarker Services to identify novel VOC biomarkers in breath for use in disease diagnosis and stratification to match patients to the most appropriate treatment.