Metabolon has been recognized by Pharma Tech Outlook Magazine as the exclusive recipient of “Top 10 Biotech Startups - 2022,” based on our proprietary methodology, reflecting its position in the industry, and is also named among “,” reflecting its broader leadership. This profile has been developed by the Pharma Tech Outlook research and editorial team based on insights from an interview with Rohan (Ro) Hastie, CEO.

Metabolon
Raising the Drug Development Bar

Rohan (Ro) Hastie, CEO

Biotech and pharmaceutical companies are striving to accelerate their drug development initiatives to advance the treatment of acute diseases. High failure rate in the clinical development phase, however, is hindering their effort, preventing them from getting FDA approval while costing millions of dollars.

Metabolomics is the analytical technique for studying metabolic pathways by examining the overall changes of small metabolites in body fluids or tissue after exogenous stimulation or gene mutation. It can be a great help when it comes to clinical development.

An innovative start-up taking a significant leap in this field is Metabolon.

“We’re focused on the next omic revolution—metabolomics— that sits at the nexus of gene and environment interactions,” says Rohan (Ro) Hastie, CEO of Metabolon.

Stitching together the multi-omics data with clinical and human health metadata, Metabolon is helping clients make informed decisions to improve success in clinical development. Thousands of discrete chemical signals are deciphered from genetic and non-genetic factors to discover biomarkers, reveal biological pathways, and provide a definitive representation of the phenotype.

Metabolon realizes that the risk of developing diseases comes from metabolism, environment, and lifestyle. Excessive weight gain, for example, can lead to Type 2 diabetes. This implies that the genetic contribution to most common diseases is low compared to the external factors contributing to a person’s biochemistry in small molecule makeup. Metabolon has the capability and expertise to provide pharma and biotech companies and clinical researchers with metabolomebased services to help them discover biomarkers and create actionable insights and solutions from biomarkers or small molecule biology.

“Our goal is to provide metabolomic outputs for population health, basic science, and clinical development. These outputs are setting the standard for metabolomic services that are out there today,” says Hastie. But how does Metabolon achieve this feat?

Protein, DNA, and RNA are the mainstay of drug development. But they do not represent key insights underlying biology in general. Metabolomics plays a pivotal role in influencing key functions of DNA, RNA, and proteins, and enables biopharma companies to bridge the knowledge gap during drug development for better target identification, drug discovery, and development.

This is particularly important given that the drug development space is moving toward more precision medicines from blockbuster drugs. It is essential for biotech and pharma companies to be able to identify the correct patient subgroups that will or will not respond to a particular drug. In this area, Metabolomic biomarkers can be used as an excellent companion diagnostic.

Metabolon’s primary objective is to reduce phase-2 trial attrition; currently almost 66 percent. A consistent improvement in this area can significantly reduce the overall drug development cost.

We’re focused on the next omic revolution—metabolomics— that sits at the nexus of gene and environment interactions

For instance, a biotech company had unsatisfactory findings in their early phase-2 clinical trials. It required them to reassess the biological underpinnings of the clinical findings. Metabolon’s technology helped screen the patients on the trial and identify metabolomic signatures of response. Based on that, the company developed a quantitative assessment to find a direct correlation between the changes in the metabolite and clinically meaningful response to the drug. The client utilized these insights to modify their clinical trial for the next stage of clinical development. Most importantly, they are currently in the process of FDA filing.

Metabolon’s entire approach is based on extensive research. The company spent the past two decades developing the right technology and profiling small molecules in patients and biological systems. This allows it to accurately detect and identify more metabolites and biochemical pathways than the competitors. Metabolon’s team of scientists is also continually striving to up their ante in the multi-omics research space.

Metabolon News

Metabolon's Metabolomic Platform and Services Cited in More Than 3,000 Peer-Reviewed Articles across Life Sciences, Pharmaceutical/Biotech, and Applied Sciences

Gold-standard metabolomics data accelerating research across multiple disciplines, leading to citation in 3,000+ publications and growing; nearly 75 articles published in world-renowned journals in the first two months of 2023 alone

MORRISVILLE, N.C.: Metabolon, Inc., the global leader in providing metabolomics solutions that advance a wide variety of research, diagnostic, therapeutic development, and precision medicine applications, today announced their metabolomics platform outputs and related services have been cited in more than 3,000 peer-reviewed journals. For more than 20 years, Metabolon has been focused on developing and refining its platform to enable the utility of metabolomics in all areas of life sciences research. The scientific insights supported by Metabolon's high-quality metabolomic outputs have allowed the company to reach this historic milestone.

Publications referencing Metabolon, its platform and results have appeared in world-renowned, high-impact journals such as Nature, Nature Medicine, Nature Genetics, Cell, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), and many others, demonstrating the dramatic increase in awareness and recognition of the importance of metabolomics in research. Metabolon continues to support active collaboration across scientific disciplines, enabling continuous growth and adoption among the life sciences and scientific innovation communities. Metabolon's contribution to scientific studies was cited in its 1,000th peer-reviewed article in 2016 and has been increasingly cited since, with nearly 75 in January and February 2023 on topics ranging from COVID-19 to inflammation. As a result, there are now more than 3,000 publications citing Metabolon's contributions, and the number continues to grow.

"Metabolon continues to actively engage the scientific communities to highlight the importance of metabolomics to further basic science, clinical research, and medicine, as well as broaden our understanding of wellness and human health. Metabolomics is unique in providing the best link to functional and phenotypic attributes, that help translate biology from discovery through clinical development and is complementarity to gene-based applications in the pharmaceutical industry," said Rohan (Ro) Hastie, CEO at Metabolon. "We're dedicated to providing this important building block to advance research across disease states and ultimately revolutionize drug development."

"The citations of Metabolon's metabolomics platform outputs and services across this breadth of scientific disciplines highlights the impact of metabolomics in these fields of study," said Ranga Sarangarajan, Chief Scientific Officer at Metabolon. "This milestone shows how we are transforming the way scientists approach the incorporation of metabolomics in all applicable areas of science, including life science, health, and wellness research. Metabolon is dedicated to providing high-quality metabolomics outputs to various disciplines, as well as the development of tools and capabilities for advanced statistical analysis, multi-omics data integration, and the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence analytics."

With more than 20 years of experience, 45+ PhDs on staff, and more than 5,400 metabolites in its reference library, Metabolon has completed more than 10,000 projects on behalf of customers and partners across biopharma, population health, consumer products, agriculture, wellness, and academic and government research sectors. To learn more, visit www.metabolon.com.

Metabolon Secures $60M Credit Facility

Metabolon, a Morrisville, NC-based company which specialises in providing metabolomics solutions for life science research, diagnostic, therapeutic development, and precision medicine applications, received a $60M credit facility.

Trinity Capital made the financing.

The company intends to use the funds to further enhance its growth initiatives and expand its research and development efforts to further enhance its metabolomics platform. The financing will also support Its global expansion plans, including market penetration initiatives and strategic partnerships.

Led by CEO Rohan (Ro) Hastie, Metabolon is the global leader in metabolomics with a mission to deliver biochemical data and insights that expand and accelerate the impact of life sciences research and complement other ‘omics’ technologies. With more than 20 years, 10,000+ projects, 3,000+ publications, and ISO 9001:2015, CLIA, and CAP certifications, Metabolon has developed scientific, technology, and bioinformatics techniques. Its Global Discovery Panel is enabled by a large proprietary metabolomics reference library. Its data and translational science expertise help customers and partners address some of the most challenging and pressing questions in the life sciences, accelerating research and enhancing development success. The company offers scalable, customizable multiomics solutions, including metabolomics and lipidomics supporting customer needs from discovery through clinical trials and product life-cycle management.

Commenting on the news, Rohan (Ro) Hastie said: “As the life sciences embrace a sophisticated multiomics paradigm, Metabolon is emerging as an industry benchmark and an essential catalyst toward achieving true precision medicine. This investment will enable us to accelerate growth, drive innovation, and further solidify our position as a leader in the metabolomics space.”

Metabolon Announces 4-Week Turnaround Time for Commercial Projects, Enhancing Metabolomic Services for Multiomic Research

MORRISVILLE - Metabolon, Inc., the global leader in providing metabolomics solutions advancing a wide variety of life science research, diagnostic, therapeutic development, and precision medicine applications, today announced a significant enhancement to its services with a new 4-week project turnaround time for Global Discovery Panel projects up to 2,000 samples, specifically tailored to meet the needs of commercial markets. This announcement comes as a strategic addition to Metabolon's recently launched spectral data files and bioinformatics platform offerings, reinforcing the company's commitment to providing the highest quality and most comprehensive metabolomics solutions in the industry for multiomic research.

The accelerated project turnaround time is a direct response to the demands of commercial pharmaceutical customers who require timely and actionable insights to drive their research and development efforts. This includes analysis for biological fluids, such as plasma, urine, and serum. With this new initiative, Metabolon aims to empower commercial clients with faster access to metabolomics data and insights, enabling quicker decision-making and more efficient development pipelines.

"Our focus has always been on delivering unparalleled value to our customers, and this new 4-week project turnaround time is another step toward achieving that goal," said Ro Hastie, CEO of Metabolon. "Metabolomics plays a crucial role in the multiomics space, providing essential and unique insights into biological processes and pathways that are vital for understanding disease mechanisms, identifying biomarkers, and developing targeted therapies. With Metabolon's industry-leading expertise, highest quality standards, and largest library of metabolites, clients can trust the accuracy, reliability, and efficiency of our services."

Metabolon Receives NIH Grant to Develop Advanced Monitoring and Predictive Tools for Type 1 Diabetes Progression

MORRISVILLE - Metabolon, Inc., the global leader in providing metabolomics solutions advancing a wide variety of life science research, diagnostic, therapeutic development, and precision medicine applications, is proud to announce the receipt of a prestigious grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop an innovative product aimed at better monitoring and predicting the conversion of preclinical asymptomatic type 1 diabetes (T1D) to clinical symptomatic, insulin-dependent type 1 diabetes.

Over 3 million people in the United States live with T1D. Today, the biomarkers that predict the progression of preclinical T1D to clinical T1D lack specificity and granularity. Despite advances in medical research, no single FDA-approved test currently can monitor T1D progression beyond simple disease staging. Metabolon's new initiative addresses this unmet need by identifying metabolite biomarkers to improve prediction and enable a more detailed understanding of disease progression when evaluated alongside current clinical indicators.

"Metabolon has a rich history of pioneering advancements in metabolomics. We are dedicated to empowering pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, as well as academic and government institutions, with comprehensive metabolic insights to drive better health outcomes," said Ro Hastie, CEO of Metabolon. "With this NIH grant, Metabolon is poised to extend its expertise in T1D, aiming to enhance predictive capabilities and improve the lives of millions affected by this condition."

If successful, Metabolon's research will enhance the specificity and granularity of T1D progression prediction and pave the way for more precise and personalized treatment strategies. By integrating new metabolite biomarkers with existing clinical indicators, Metabolon's efforts will significantly contribute to diabetes research and patient care. For more information about Metabolon's projects and services, please visit www.metabolon.com.

Company
Metabolon

Management
Rohan (Ro) Hastie, CEO

Description
Metabolon is committed to helping clients harness metabolomics to achieve pharmaceutical research and development goals. The company has designed its process to be a complete solution that produces actionable knowledge and drives research forward. This includes the production of the metabolomics data and the provision of interpretation infrastructure (bioinformatics, tools, expertise & institutional knowledge), accessed via the MetaboLync client portal.

Pharma Tech Outlook

Metabolon Raising the Drug Development Bar