NEW YORK (360Dx) – British diagnostics firm Owlstone Medical announced today that it has signed an agreement to provide breath biomarker services to 4D Pharma to assist with its drug-development efforts.
Under the terms of the deal, 4D will use Owlstone's ReCiva Breath Sampler — a collection device for exhaled volatile organic compounds (VOCs) — to obtain breath samples from patients enrolled in clinical trials of its live bacteria-based drugs candidates. Samples will be transferred to Owlstone's service laboratory for analysis using its field asymmetric ion mobility spectrometer technology. Novel VOC biomarkers that are identified will be used by 4D for disease diagnosis and patient stratification.
Additional terms were not disclosed.
"VOCs in breath provide incredibly valuable information about the health of an individual, as well as potentially reflecting the metabolism of their microbiome," 4D Pharma Cork's Paul O'Toole said in a statement. "As such, VOC biomarkers show great potential for patient stratification and could help us to determine which patients would benefit most from our live biotherapeutics."