Defensin Therapeutics is a Danish biopharmaceutical company spun out from Novozymes A/S in 2013. Defensin Therapeutics is based on defensin production know how from Novozymes and more than two decades of defensin research from prof Wehkamp´s group at the University of Tübingen. Defensin Therapeutics focuses on the development and commercialization of novel products for the treatment of diseases and conditions associated with dysregulation of the human microbiota.

 

Defensin Therapeutics entered in the spring of 2016 into a clinical and marketing agreement for Europe for hBD-2 for IBD with Dr Falk Pharma in Germany.

Dr Falk is establishing the defensin production technology with Lonza in Switzerland. First in human studies should commence in Q1 2019.

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The human microbiota is the name for the communities consisting of billions of commensal micro-organisms that cover the body´s different surfaces e.g. the skin, the ocular surface, the lung surface, the gastrointestinal tract etc. Our body lives in a symbiotic relationship with the microbiota. The microbiota plays a vital role in regulating our health. Alterations in the composition or function of the microbiota have been associated with more than 25 diseases most notably IBD, asthma, atopic dermatitis. Whereas research efforts hitherto have focused on identifying the individual micro-organisms constituting the microbiota, Defensin therapeutics focus on the regulation of the human microbiota. Defensins have been shown to be very potent modulators of the microbiome promoting a healthy microbiome with increased abundance and presence of key bacteria.