Synthetic Biologics CEO on pipeline advances and the microbiome

Scrip senior editor Lucie Ellis speaks to Jeff Riley, president and CEO of Synthetic Biologics, about how the company is harnessing the microbiome to develop two late-stage therapeutics. Synthetic Biologics, a late-stage clinical company based in the US, has two drug candidates in development—ribaxamase and SYN-010—that address Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) and irritable bowel syndrome constipation (IBS-C). Ribaxamase also has potential against the growing global threat of antimicrobial resistance by preventing the disruption of a healthy microbiome. Riley talks about why the biopharma industry is interested now in using the microbiome within drug R&D. He also highlights challenges within this research space and what to look for from Synthetic Biologics in 2018.