LEXINGTON, Mass., April 20, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kaleido Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: KLDO), a clinical-stage healthcare company with a small molecule driven approach to targeting the microbiome to treat disease and improve human health, today announced a research collaboration with researcher Robert Jenq, M.D. Professor of Genomic Medicine, at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, to explore the potential of Kaleido’s novel Microbiome Metabolic Therapies (MMT™) in preventing febrile neutropenia—a serious complication associated with hematopoietic stem cell transplantations (HSCT).

Approximately 60,000 patients undergo HSCT annually in the U.S. and Europe, which includes patients with myeloid disorders, lymphoid disorders and plasma cell disorders. Recent scientific findings have demonstrated that treatment regimens given to HSCT patients have a profound detrimental effect on their microbiome, putting them at increased risk of bacterial infections, febrile neutropenia and ultimately, graft-versus-host disease (GVHD).

“Today, standard-of-care for patients with hematological cancers includes radiation and chemotherapy to eliminate malignant cells. This may lead to significant side effects including severe damage to the gut epithelium, and major disruption to a patient’s microbiome,” said Johan van Hylckama Vlieg, Chief Scientific Officer at Kaleido Biosciences. “Additionally, treatment combinations with broad-spectrum antibiotics used in the conditioning process, leave patients increasingly more susceptible to neutropenic fever. We are eager to work with Dr. Jenq to explore the potential of Kaleido’s MMTs to selectively support the restoration of the microbiome and gut barrier integrity, with the aim of ultimately improving treatment outcomes for patients undergoing HSCT.”

Within the collaboration, selected MMTs will be evaluated in disease animal models developed by Dr. Jenq, to further explore the molecular mechanisms by which MMTs act on the microbiome and gut barrier function and support the identification of a lead compound from Kaleido’s compound library.

About Microbiome Metabolic Therapies (MMT™)
Kaleido’s Microbiome Metabolic Therapies, or MMTs, are designed to drive the function and distribution of the microbiome organ’s existing microbes in order to decrease or increase the production of metabolites, or to advantage or disadvantage certain bacteria in the microbiome community. The Company’s initial MMT candidates are targeted glycans that are orally administered, have limited systemic exposure, and are selectively metabolized by enzymes in the microbiome. Kaleido utilizes its human-centric discovery and development platform to study MMTs in microbiome samples in an ex vivo setting, followed by advancing MMT candidates rapidly into clinical studies in healthy subjects and patients. These human clinical studies are conducted under regulations supporting research with food, evaluating safety, tolerability and potential markers of effect. For MMT candidates that are further developed as therapeutics, the Company conducts clinical trials under an Investigational New Drug (IND) or regulatory equivalent outside the U.S., and in Phase 2 or later development.

About Kaleido Biosciences
Kaleido Biosciences is a clinical-stage healthcare company with a differentiated, chemistry-driven approach to leveraging the microbiome organ to treat disease and improve human health. The Company has built a human-centric proprietary product platform to enable the rapid and cost-efficient discovery and development of novel Microbiome Metabolic Therapies (MMT™). MMTs are designed to modulate the metabolic output and profile of the microbiome by driving the function and distribution of the organ’s existing microbes. Kaleido is advancing a broad pipeline of MMT candidates with the potential to address a variety of diseases and conditions with significant unmet patient needs. To learn more, visit https://kaleido.com/.