The state of the oncology microbiome therapeutics pipeline at a glance

Most of the oncology microbiome therapeutics pipeline is currently in the preclinical stages (38 agents), with only nine agents in clinical stages, and one agent in Phase III (Nubiyota’s MET-4). Within the clinical-stage oncology pipeline, agents are only being evaluated in solid tumours for which immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are approved. This is due to the putative mechanisms of action (MOAs) of microbiome therapeutics, working under the hypothesis that modulating the microbiome can enhance the ability of the endogenous immune system to attack cancer cells through promoting a pro-inflammatory and anti-tumour immune response.