Founded by the visionary Dr. Paul Hammer, a PhD in systems biology and bioinformatics with a passion for microbiome science, BIOMESDesigned to help consumers understand the makeup of their own microbiome and how diet and lifestyle can influence it.
The customer sends a small stool sample in the mail and their microbiota profile is analyzed using next generation sequencing. In addition to demographic information and dietary preferences, BIOMES offers a nutrition plan and recommendations for probiotic supplements tailored to your specific needs.
The information made available to the customer is both detailed and user-friendly.
Dr. Hammer, CEO of BIOMES, says it is quite a challenge to make sure they offer the right level of detail when customers have such a diverse level of education on the subject.
“The dashboard shows the customer the total intestinal flora value of 100 as well as the values for each specific bacterial strain. Instead of just providing a lot of numbers, we provide the information through images with a scale that shows whether that amount is “room for improvement” or “good”.
“The customer then clicks on that result for recommendations on what to eat to try and increase the levels of these bacteria. If they click on those recommendations, they can also see the list of research reports that support our recommendations . He can then read these reports himself. “
To keep things simple, the dashboard informs customers about their “strengths” and “weaknesses” using a variety of indicators: diversity, inflammation, constipation, appetite, cholesterol, energy metabolism, immunity, intestinal barriers, cytotoxins, cardiovascular wellbeing, sleep, Calorie intake.
When it comes to offering personalized probiotics, the company works with a supplier in Germany to offer seven different dietary supplements, each containing a range of targeted probiotic strains that are scientifically linked to specific health concerns, such as: For example: immune deficiency, accompanying antibiotics, histamine intolerance against intestinal complaints or support for a change in diet with the aim of losing weight
BIOMES is primarily a D2C company right now, but Dr. Hammer can see the tests are working well and are being provided by health professionals.
The company’s ultimate goal is to be able to offer a subscription service where the customer will run regular tests every few months and compare the results to see how dietary changes affect microbial diversity.
“Our company has two main audiences – the self-optimizing consumer who enjoys tracking their health data and working to improve their health. Then you have the consumers who suffer from digestive problems like IBS, food intolerance or immune deficiency. “
The biologist adds that with a team of 60 people, including data scientists, all work is done in-house, so customers can rest assured that their data will not be shared with multiple companies.
The company’s expansion plans have been somewhat delayed by the pandemic as the government demanded the establishment of a COVID-19 test track that processed thousands of corona samples from Berlin and Brandenburg.
