BIO and the Microbiome

By Andrew Williams —

The 2017 BIO International Convention begins this week in San Diego.  This convention has become an important destination for all organizations working in the biotechnology space, but the large amount of information and opportunities available can appear daunting at first glance.  To assist our readers, we recently provided information about the convention, and listed sessions that might be of interest to Patent Docs readers (see "2017 BIO International Convention — Docs @ BIO").  In addition, with this post, we begin a more in-depth series of previews highlighting a few sessions or other opportunities, in thematic fashion, to help navigate the convention.  Of course, as we previously reported, Patent Docs authors and contributors will be present at BIO as part of the MBHB contingent.  Patent Docs readers are encouraged to stop by the MBHB booth (#1728) to discuss these sessions (or whatever other topics are of interest to you).

The microbiome has been defined as the microorganisms in a particular environment, including the body or part of the body.  Recently, the topic of the microbiome has gained a lot of attention.  Indeed, over the past couple of years, Patent Docs has published a series of guest posts on the topic of the emergent microbiome, with one of the more recent posts appearing last February (see "The Emergent Microbiome: A Revolution for the Life Sciences — Part X, The Big Data Component").  It is no surprise, therefore, to find several educational sessions at BIO addressing the topic from various perspectives.

The Intellectual Property track will feature a session on June 20, 2017 at 1:45 PM entitled "Innovation and the Human Microbiome: Patent Eligibility and IP Protection."  The description of the session notes that microbiome research is resulting in new diagnosis, therapies, and product development, but the related commercialization is creating IP challenges.  Because microbiomic inventions relate to microbes, microbial components, and microbial products, they could be susceptible to concerns of subject-matter eligibility stemming from recent decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court and the Federal Circuit, and guidelines from Patent Office.  Not only that, but the regulatory environment creates additional complexity as governments grapple with questions surrounding labeling and regulation of probiotics.  The session promises that attendees will hear about creative patent drafting, trademark rights, and contractual provisions that can be used to protect such innovations.  The speakers on the panel will be Amanda Barry, Associate General Counsel for Global Home Care and NA Fabric Care Innovation at The Procter & Gamble Company, Michelle Booden, Director of Intellectual Property and Licensing for Salk Institute for Biological Studies, and Simon O' Brian, Partner with D Young & Co LLP.  The session will be moderated by David Gass of Marshall Gerstein & Borun LLP.

The microbiome focuses on the microorganisms found in the body (or parts of the body), but there is a new wave of discovery using pharmaceuticals to regulate the dialogue between microbiome and host.  The Next Generation Biotherapeutics track will feature this emerging area on June 21, 2017 at 4:15 PM in a session entitled "Microbiome 2.0: Going Beyond Bugs as Drugs."  The description notes that these new discoveries hold promise for many key areas, including insomnia, diabetes, and autism.  The panel will share insights into the following questions: what are the hottest new microbiome drug targets and why; what are the new approaches to regulate the gut-brain axis, and how does big data fit in?  The panel includes Dr. Tom Hallam, Ph.D., CEO of Leading BioSciences; Glenn Nedwin, Ph.D, President and CEP of Second Genome; Scott Peterson, Professor at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute; and Stephanie Robertson, Sr. Director, Consumer Science Innovation at Johnson & Johnson Innovation, California.  The panel will be moderated by Larry Smarr, Ph.D., Principal Investigator at the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology.

There will also be a session on June 21, 2017 at 3:00 PM entitled "Technologies for a Sustainable Future: Leveraging One Health and Engineering Synergies."  The panel for this session promises to explore emerging topics such as synthetic biology and the microbiome as examples of the important connections between challenges in the food systems and human health.  These challenges can lead to complex relationships across disciplines to enable sustainable solutions for health and wellness.  The panel will discuss ways in which "One Health and Engineering Synergies" can be leveraged to accelerate cutting edge research, created novel technologies, and develop tractable solutions.  This panel includes Joerg Bauer, Head of Scouting and Insight, Bioscience Research for BASF; David Kyle, Ph.D., CEO and Executive Director for Evolve Biosystems.  The panel will be moderated by Dushyant Pathak, Ph.D., MBA, Associate Vice Chancellor of Research for Technology Management & Corporate Relations, and Executive Director of Venture Catalyst at the University of California, Davis.

Please be on the look-out for future preview posts, and we look forward to seeing you this week at BIO 2017.