Enterome and Gustave Roussy collaborate to develop novel immunotherapy solutions to treat cancer

Enterome Bioscience has entered into a collaborative development agreement with Gustave Roussy, Europe’s first comprehensive cancer centre, to develop a new generation of immuno-oncology drugs and non-invasive gut microbiome monitoring tools.

Professor Alexander Eggermont, CEO of Gustave Roussy, said: ‘We are convinced that Enterome’s unique human microbiome platform and its expertise in understanding the links between the gut microbiome composition and the development of diseases, combined with our world-leading research in immuno-oncology, will allow the development of novel drugs and diagnostics that could extend the range of personalised treatment options for patients with cancer.’

The two-pronged approach, addressing novel therapeutics and diagnostics for cancer, is based on Enterome’s unique metagenomic technology platform, which provides a deep understanding of the gut microbiome composition: a key new element in determining how effective cancer immunotherapies are and the identification of ways to boost the immune response against tumours. ‘Still a largely unexplored field, the gut microbiome offers numerous promising avenues for research that may soon lead to a shift to a new treatment paradigm in oncology,’ says Enterome CEO, Pierre Bélichard.

This perspective is shared by Gustave Roussy’s tumour and immunotherapy team, which has identified new and innovative ways of manipulating the immune response to cancer, promising much improved treatment outcomes for patients with malignant tumours.

Team Director, Professor Laurence Zitvogel, recently highlighted in Science the crucial role of the gut microbiome in eliciting innate and adaptive immune responses that are beneficial for the host in relation to effective therapies against cancer (chemotherapies, immunotherapy based on immune checkpoint blockers). Enterome’s understanding of the microbiome space and Gustave Roussy’s extensive development capabilities in the immune-oncology sphere will combine to create a complementary partnership that offers a unique opportunity to codevelop a new generation of cancer drugs.

‘This partnership demonstrates the growing interest from a broad range of healthcare players in our gut microbiome-based approach, which has the potential to deliver breakthrough treatment solutions for a broad range of diseases,’ concludes Pierre Bélichard.