Tribe

What if I told you that the world's most valuable medicines, responsible for the lion's share of the top pharmaceutical companies' wealth (tens of trillions of dollars), were derived from soil? ? Yeah, I didn't know this either. ? Antibiotics. Statins. Immunosuppressants. Antivirals. Anti-inflammatories. Antifungals. Antiparasitics. Anticancer drugs. ? All of these were discovered using microbes found in soil. ? However, according to Israeli-born Terrapeutics co-founders Eddie Sadan and Ariel Werman, just 0.1% of all soil microbe-derived-molecules suitable for drug discovery have been studied. ? Just 0.1%. ? That's like nothing. ? Recently, I sat down with Eddie and Ariel, who split their time between the Bay Area and Jerusalem, to learn more about their captivating startup, Terrapeutics. What they shared blew my mind. ? Imagine cures for #cancer, #multiple sclerosis, #Parkinson's, #Alzheimer's, #ALS, and other diseases just waiting to be found in soil beneath our feet. ? Over billions of years, tiny microbes in soil have been brewing powerful compounds with incredible medicinal properties. Yet, current drug discovery methods barely scratch the surface. ? Eddie, who has decades of experience as a CEO, CFO, and entrepreneur, says that 99% of these microbes haven't been harnessed, and only a tiny percentage will survive in the lab. Moreover, most of the molecules that the bacteria know how to produce remain hidden in lab conditions. The life saving compounds that these microbes produce quickly disappear like whispers into the soil, so big pharma has mostly been unable to use them. This problem seemed unsolvable until Terrapeutics started cracking the code. ? Using a combination of synthetic biology and comparative genomics, explains Harvard-trained physician and Ph.D. Ariel Werman, Terrapeutics takes an orthogonal approach to decoding the language of soil microbes and producing life-saving compounds. Astonishingly, they're finding new molecules in soil that can destroy the most difficult-to-treat cancers, ones that were?once considered undruggable. Terrapeutics, currently at The Bay Area Disruptor And Startup Support Labs, is generating lots of buzz and has raised funds from investors including Peregrine Ventures and Bristol Myers Squibb. They've also been selected for the prestigious US Illumina accelerator – a testament to their groundbreaking genomics work. ? They're building operations in Israel, where they'll focus on drugs that tackle KRAS, a driver of 25% of cancers. Next, the US team will focus on targets including c-Myc, considered the 'holy grail' of pharma, and a major factor driving over 80% of cancers.? ? Connect with Eddie and Ariel to learn more. Subscribe to Tribe newsletter for the full story behind Terrapeutics. #innovation #management #technology #startups #biotech David Kiewlich Eric Topol, MD Chen Shmilo Liat Primor