OpenBiome
OpenBiome is a public stool bank that provides frozen preparations of screened and filtered human stool for use in fecal bacteriotherapy, more commonly known as Fecal Microbiota Transplant (FMT) therapies.
OpenBiome distributes material to hospitals and clinics to support the treatment of recurrent C. difficile infection, the most common pathogen causing hospital-acquired infection in the U.S. [1] It also operates as a research organization, supporting investigations into the use of FMT to treat C. difficile as well as the use of FMT for other indications, such as irritable bowel syndrome, in partnership with the Alm Lab at MIT.
OpenBiome was founded in 2012 by Mark Smith, a microbiology PhD student at MIT, and James Burgess, an MBA student at the MIT Sloan School of Management.[2] It is the first public stool bank in the U.S. [3], founded to facilitate treatment by FMT, which despite efficacy rates of 90% for treatment of C. difficile has been difficult for clinicians to adopt due to the logistical burdens associated with screening and processing fecal material.[4] Openbiome operates as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in Medford, MA.
References
- ^ Magill, Shelley (March 27 2014). "Multistate Point-Prevalence Survey of Health Care–Associated Infections". The New England Journal of Medicine. 370: 1198. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1306801.
{{cite journal}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); More than one of|pages=and|page=specified (help) - ^ Glenn, David (3 Feb 2014). "Student-led Project Banks on Promise of Fecal Transplants". The Chronicle for Higher Education. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
- ^ Smith, Peter Andrey (17 Feb 2014). "A New Kind of Transplant Bank". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
- ^ Johnson, Carolyn (24 Feb 2014). "Fecal transplant safety is goal of stool bank". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 14 July 2014.