Microbiome-based research is gaining credibility as a means to discover novel therapeutics. Now big pharmas like J&J and Pfizer are evaluating partnering opportunities in the burgeoning field – with potential therapies starting to enter the clinic – as they look to strike the appropriate balance between internal and external research.

With an emphasis on early disease intervention, J&J’s Janssen R&D unit launched three new research platforms – disease prevention, disease interception and the microbiome.

With proof of high response rates in small studies of B-cell malignancies in the rear view, sponsors focus on the next hurdles – launching potentially registrational studies in 2015, honing plans for a smooth-running manufacturing process and branching out into new indications.