In 2019, clinically-studied probiotic specialist Seed Health launched a partner company known as Luca Biologics focused on women’s health. Based on 15 years of academic vaginal microbiome research, LUCA’s pipeline targets urinary tract infections (UTI), bacterial vaginosis and preterm birth. The company’s first drug candidate targets UTIs and will enter a Phase 1b trial this year.
The company’s chief scientist, Dr. Jacques Ravel, led research recently published in Genome Biology that shed light on vaginal microbe composition and its functions.
We recently spoke with Dr. Ravel to learn more about that research and Luca Biologics’ pipeline.
Drug Discovery & Development: What initially inspired you to focus on microbial ecology?
Ravel: My Ph.D. was in microbial ecology at the University of Maryland, and my postdoc at Johns Hopkins University focused on natural product chemistry. While doing the postdoc, I taught…