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ProBion Innovation Sweden announces colon cancer breakthrough: new probiotic treatment markedly reduces cancer-related microbes

ProBion Innovation Sweden (PISA) a research biotechnology start-up, announces the results of a clinical study at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, Sweden, utilizing ProBion® Clinica with PISA’s proprietary matrix technology on patients with colon cancer. Findings strongly confirm that the colon-cancer-associated microbial signature was modified due to probiotic intervention, characterized by the enrichment of butyrate-producing bacteria in the intestinal tissue along with a regenerated intestinal microbiome profile closely resembling healthy individuals.

"Colon cancer patients harbor a distinct microbiota signature in the tumor tissue and nearby mucosa," said Dr Yvonne Wettergren, principal investigator of the study. "The ProBion® Clinica regimen resulted in overabundance of the beneficial Faecalibacterium and Clostridiales spp bacteria in the tumor tissue, non-tumor mucosa, as well as in the fecal microbiota, and intriguingly,
colon-cancer-associated bacterial genera such as Fusobacterium and Peptostreptococcus were significantly reduced."

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common type of cancer in the US. China has the highest number of new CRC cases in the Asia-Pacific region. The Asia-Pacific CRC market value alone is expected to surpass $8 billion by 2025.

"There is a great unmet need for new CRC innovative research and treatment options. We are very excited about the results and we are now taking this concept a step further," said Dr Victoria Rotter Sopasakis, co-founder and CEO of PISA. "I am pleased to announce the planning of a new trial study, at Sahlgrenska University Hospital, on the effects of ProBion® Clinica on patients with premalignant adenomas. Based on the current results, we hypothesize that some form of probiotic intervention could effectively prevent colon tumor development in this patient group."

"Many diseases are directly associated with a dysfunctional gut microbiota. Probiotics have a huge potential to improve these conditions and/or improve the efficacy of traditional treatments already in use," added Dr Lennart Cedgård, co-founder of PISA and inventor of the ProBion matrix formulation. "However, in order to test and evaluate this, it is absolutely imperative to create a formulation that delivers viable, functional, and safe probiotic bacteria to the correct location of the gut. The ProBion matrix elegantly meets all these criteria and the current results could be the start of a paradigm shift."

Sahlgrenska University Hospital’s pioneering study was done in collaboration with and by support from DuPont Nutrition & Health (USA), DuPont Global Health & Nutrition Science (FINLAND), the Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg (SWEDEN) and Wasa Medicals (SWEDEN).

For more information on ProBion Innovation Sweden, the Sahlgrenska University Hospital study, ProBion® Clinica or other services, visit www.probioninnovation.com.

About ProBion Innovation Sweden

Founded in 2015, ProBion Innovation Sweden participates in clinical and preclinical studies on its innovative tablet matrix designed to efficiently protect the substance inside the tablet from the external environment while en route to the desired delivery location of the gut.

ProBion® Clinica is a probiotic over-the counter product available by Wasa Medicals, based on PISA’s proprietary matrix technology, shielding the interior bacteria from moisture and aggressive acids. This enables prolonged viability of the bacteria with 80-85% live and non-compromised cells for 30 months at room temperature.