Where Medicine Meets Ecology

The human body is an ecosystem. Trillions of microbes call us home. They form the human microbiome, which performs critical functions that preserve our health including modulating our immune system and providing colonization resistance against infectious pathogens. Alterations of the human microbiome are increasingly recognized as a key factor in development of immune and infectious diseases.

We rationally design medicines based on consortia of human commensal bacteria to treat a range of gastrointestinal diseases, using insights from microbial ecology, mucosal immunology, and human interventional studies.

We have spent years perfecting the process necessary to deliver consistent, standardized pharmaceutical-grade drug product based on defined bacterial consortia.

A History of Breakthrough Science in Microbial Ecology and Immunology

1680’s

Dutch scientist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek is the first person to observe bacteria, by scraping plaque from his own teeth and inspecting it through one of his handcrafted microscopes. His pioneering work contributed to establishing microbiology as a scientific discipline.

Image Credit

Photo Credit: Photo by Don Hamerman

1977

Carl Woese rewrites the Tree of Life with the discovery of Archaea. He pioneers the use of marker genes such as the 16S ribosomal gene as a method to distinguish between microbial lineages, greatly expanding our knowledge of the microbial world.

2003

Vedanta cofounder Alexander Rudensky publishes key work describing the role of the FOXP3 gene in the process by which T cells become regulatory T cells, which can prevent autoimmunity.

2005

David Relman's group publishes seminal work highlighting the great diversity of human-associated bacteria and urges consideration of a “second human genome project” aimed at cataloguing the thousands of microbes that live in association with humans.

2008

The NIH launches the Human Microbiome Project to enable the comprehensive characterization of bacteria that live in association with humans.

2009-2010

Vedanta cofounders Dan Littman and Kenya Honda show that murine-associated bacteria (2009) and human-associated bacteria (2010) can induce intestinal Th17 cells, opening new avenues for the treatment of autoimmune disease via manipulation of the microbiome.

2010

Vedanta Biosciences launched by PureTech Health and founders Ruslan Medzhitov, Alexander Rudensky, Dan Littman, Kenya Honda, and Brett Finlay, scientific pioneers in immunology and the human microbiome.

2016

Vedanta opens Cambridge state-of-the art facility for discovery and CGMP manufacturing of bacterial consortia drugs.

2016-2017

Vedanta granted foundational patents in the microbiome field in the US and EU broadly covering drugs based on bacterial consortia containing Clostridium bacteria.

2017-2020

Vedanta initiates first-ever studies with defined consortia (for cancer, CDI, food allergy) and demonstrates safety and long-term colonization in VE303/VE202 studies.

2019

The Opposition Division of the European Patent Office has upheld Vedanta’s foundational patent EP2575835 strengthening Vedanta’s intellectual property position. The upheld patent claims broadly cover compositions of Clostridial bacterial species for use in infectious and allergic disease. 

2021

CONSORTIUM Study meets primary endpoint, demonstrating the safety and efficacy of VE303 in reducing C.difficile infection recurrence and triggering BARDA funding to support a Phase 3 trial. This milestone represents the most advanced study of a rationally-designed defined bacterial consortium.

2022

Vedanta unveils state-of-the-art, multi-product CGMP manufacturing facility to supply the planned Phase 3 clinical trial and potential commercial launch of VE303 in Clostridioides difficile infection

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What Makes Us Unique

Founded by Scientific Leaders in the Fields of Immunology and Microbiome

Our scientific founders have pioneered our modern understanding of how the immune system senses microbes, and contributed seminal discoveries to the microbiome field, including the identification of immune-regulating and immune-potentiating bacteria that live in association with humans.

Team

Scientific Co-founders

Board of Directors