Gut check: Newest mi­cro­bio­me start­up con­cen­trates on autism, Parkin­son’s dis­ease

What kind of re­la­tion­ship ex­ists be­tween the gut mi­cro­bio­me and dis­eases of the brain? A new start­up called Ax­i­al Bio­ther­a­peu­tics has set out to find some an­swers, with $19.15 mil­lion in ven­ture back­ing.

Cal­tech pro­fes­sor Sarkis Maz­man­ian has pro­vid­ed much of the in­spi­ra­tion for the biotech. His lab has pub­lished re­search on an­i­mal stud­ies that es­tab­lished a link be­tween the pop­u­la­tion of tiny mi­crobes in your body and the course of autism spec­trum dis­or­ders. And the biotech plans to take that work in­to the clin­ic in search of new drugs that can treat some ter­ri­ble, and dif­fi­cult-to-treat, dis­eases.

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