Macrogen and Microba to deliver new microbiome service offerings in international markets

Microba, Australia’s leading biotech company in microbiome science and testing, has partnered with Macrogen to develop new microbiome services in offshore markets. An MOU outlining the partnership was signed at Macrogen Headquarters in Seoul on 14 March 2019.

Macrogen is a significant Korean listed precision biotechnology company with market capitalisation over $350m USD and annual revenues over $100m USD. The Chairman and Founder, Dr Seo is an internationally respected scientist who is recognised as a leader in the human genomics field in Asia.

Microba is a globally recognised microbial genomics company with a unique technology platform using shotgun metagenomic sequencing to accurately characterise the millions of microorganisms that inhabit the large intestine, collectively known as the gut microbiome. The technology platform was developed at the University of Queensland by Professor Philip Hugenholtz and Professor Gene Tyson.

Through this MOU, Macrogen and Microba will establish a close cooperation system for entering the microbiome market in Korea and abroad. This includes joint development of microbiome services and collaborative research into microbiome-derived diagnostics and therapeutics.

The microbiome service the two companies will co-develop, analyses the whole genome (shotgun metagenomics) of all microorganisms in the gut, instead of targeting a specific region (16S rRNA) of bacteria. Through this partnership, it is expected the two companies will build a global database of high-resolution gut microbiome data that will contribute to the development of new diagnostic methods and treatments.

“Microba is a company with world-leading technology in the microbiome field, which is one of the fastest growing industries,” said Kap-Seok Yang, CEO of Macrogen.

“Partnership between our companies will generate great synergy to develop and launch highly reliable services to global markets such as USA, Europe, Japan and Singapore, starting from the Korean market.”

“Microba is very pleased to work together with Macrogen, which is well known for its world-class genetics analysis capacity and its vast experience in data analysis,” said Blake Wills, CEO of Microba.

“The two companies will work closely to advance microbiome analysis technology, as well as launching various services in the Direct to Consumer, Research and Clinical markets.”