Verb Biotics, a spin-off of Ginkgo Bioworks, uses artificial intelligence (AI) and high-throughput screening to identify key metabolites linked to specific beneficial modes of action, thus creating targeted probiotics for microbiome health.
Clinical studies have shown that probiotic supplementation can help treat gastrointestinal problems, strengthen immunity, and treat various infections. As consumer demand continues to grow, industry is under increasing pressure to identify and bring to market solutions that deliver specific functional benefits.
US-based Verb Biotics was launched a few years ago to focus on microbiome health, with the goal of addressing specific health states.
“We set out to address this need for more functional biotics in the consumer health sector,” said chief scientific officer Noah Zimmerman. “We realised that what industry and consumers are looking for are probiotics that deliver a noticeable effect.”
Verb Biotics applies biotechnology to develop targeted probiotic ingredients. According to Zimmerman, most industry players focus on identifying promising probiotics strains before unravelling their functionality. Verb Biotics’ approach, he says, is the opposite.
“We start with a specific functionality in mind, and then develop strains to address these mechanisms of action,” he said.
To achieve this, the company applies biotech tools including AI and high-throughput screening to identify key metabolites linked to specific beneficial modes of action.
The team then sets out to identify microbes that generate these metabolites at exceptional levels. State-of-art biotechnology means that millions of strains can be identified and analysed in just a few months.
“Being metabolite-driven rather than strain-driven is another key differentiator for us,” said Zimmerman.
A good example of this process coming to fruition is the company’s gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) probiotic strain. This probiotic creates GABA, an inhibitory neurotransmitter that lessens a nerve cell’s ability to receive, create, or send chemical messages to other nerve cells.
“GABA helps you to calm down,” said Zimmerman. “There have been a lot of clinical trials and literature on this, so there is a lot of science to lean on. And we also know that probiotics can create GABA.”
Verb Biotics took a strain-agnostic approach to finding the bacteria that creates the most GABA.
In addition to its own proprietary technology, the company was able to leverage advanced robotics from its partners. More than 250 million different bacterial strain variants were collected and analysed.
“If you take a totally agnostic approach – ie. you are just looking to see which strain produces the most GABA – then you inevitably end up with strains that are not commercially viable,” said Zimmerman. “We needed to winnow these down, to see which strains offer complete safety, would make it through the GRAS [generally recognised as safe] process, and can survive and grow in the gut.”
AI and machine learning tools enabled Zimmerman and his team to understand and predict the functionality of each strain before jumping into expensive and lengthy clinical trials.
“AI gave us the ability to predict what the results of a clinical trial would be,” he said. “We were able to simulate the action of specific strains in the gut, where there are hundreds of other bacterial strains living and network signalling going on.”
Zimmerman is excited about what the future holds.
“There are a number of different directions we intend to go from here,” he said. “A key focus will remain identifying metabolites that get us the best health responses.
“We’ll continue looking at well-known metabolites like GABA, but also at more specific metabolites. For example, bacteria in our gut, when it interacts with food, release other metabolites.”
The company will also look to leverage AI more as the technology continues to mature. Possibilities include conducting clinical trials in silico and building digital twins with partners.
“At the heart of our business is strong in-house expertise,” said Zimmerman. “We have a good understanding of biotech, microbiology, anaerobic technology, and physiology. We also work with partner companies on things like high-throughput screening and genetic engineering.
“Having strong in-house expertise means we can ask the right questions, and this gives us a strong leg up.”
