Microbiota, a genuine repository of our lifestyle, is a key part of our health and Atlanpole Biotherapies has made it one of our strategic focuses. As the pet subject of one of the cluster’s members, Françoise Le Vacon, for the past 20 years, it has recently been the subject of a series of regional events. The Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) of Biofortis Mérieux Nutrisciences reminds us that the majority of immune cells are located in the stomach.
Based on microbiota, it is possible to develop potential food supplements or drugs, it can be used as a biomarker of a response or resistance to certain treatments, such as cancer immunotherapies, which is why it is necessary to take the microbiome into account when developing new preventive or therapeutic strategies. These recent discoveries offer infinite possibilities for human health. In effect, this much-vaunted microbiota may play a part in combating antibiotic resistance (phage therapy) as well as infectious, neurological and metabolic diseases (diabetes, obesity, etc.).
In Western France, we benefit from a strong network of expertise in this field. In addition to outstanding academic research, service enterprises are developing food products while others are organising clinical trials and, finally, to bring the entire value chain together, some companies are examining the regulatory aspects.
Françoise Le Vacon was one of the first female founders of a biotech company in Nantes, with the establishment of Atlangene Applications in 1996. She is now the Chief Scientific Officer of Biofortis Mérieux Nutrisciences, a CRO (Contract Research Organisation) based in Saint-Herblain, which provides clinical trials, research projects and bioanalytical tests for health professionals.