Revolutionizing Gut Health: MicrobioTx’s Journey to Affordable, Hyper-Personalized Probiotics

In conversation with Akanksha Gupta, Co-Founder and Business Head of MicrobioTx, we explore how the company is transforming the future of health by harnessing the power of gut science. Since its incorporation in 2002, MicrobioTx has pioneered innovations such as the world’s first finger-prick-based Gut Microbiome Profiling test and India’s first Personal Probiotics formulation. With a focus on cutting-edge science and a hyper-personalized, data-driven approach, the company is dedicated to making microbiome-related solutions significantly more affordable and accessible.

Could you please provide a brief overview of MicrobioTx, as well as the services offered?

MicrobioTx Health aims to bring gut and microbiome-related science to improve health outcomes for a wide range of chronic disorders. We believe our innovation can take a data-driven approach to make microbiome-related science 10x more affordable and accessible. We have developed the world's finger-prick-based gut profiling test using whole blood and offer India’s only personal probiotics together with disorder specific pre-designed probiotics.

What makes MicrobioTx’s approach to personal probiotics unique in a competitive market?

The gut microbial profile is as unique as your fingerprint, so why should probiotics be the same? Hence MicrobioTx adopted a hyper-personalised, data-driven approach to probiotics. We completely customise the capsule for the individual user starting from the formulation design, basis the individual’s unique gut profile. The approach is starkly different from the current standard formulations of probiotics that are pre-designed and can be purchased off the shelf.

How is the brand integrating digital tools for more personalized, data-driven solutions?

We believe digital tools are at the heart of the wellness revolution, and would be the key for personalised solutions. We have 2 tools that we’d like to speak about -

- GutChat - A virtual on-demand Gut Health Coach, trained on more than 1k+ research papers to scientifically answer all queries related to gut health.

- Food Recommendations - A data driven approach that gives personalized food recommendations to reduce dysbiosis. We suggest what foods to include and which ones to avoid in your diet, to restore microbial balance. This tool is only available once the Gut Function Test is completed.

What are your plans for global expansion and new market penetration?

We plan to be the innovation that’s built in India, for the world. We have filed for patents of Gut Function Test not just in India, but in the US and Europe, and plan to increase our foothold via partnerships in key international markets as we scale.

How are you addressing sustainability in product development and operations?

We have taken several meaningful steps to ensure sustainable business operations. Our cloud hosted software is architected to minimise need for always-on servers and uses a cloud service provider that matches electricity consumed by renewable energy. Our supply chain emphasises on reducing waste without compromising patient safety by using recyclable components and digital reports wherever possible. We also promote remote working to minimize emissions from commuting.

How do you build consumer trust around the safety and efficacy of your probiotics?

In the wellness space, scientific rigour, transparency and consistency are the cornerstone of winning customer trust. We’ve been achieving that with -

● Continued investments in clinical trials with various leading academic institutes

● Having a stringent internal verification process prior to releases

● Ensuring regulatory approvals and audit mechanisms in place for our key products

● Working with certified and trusted vendors in supply chain

● Adopting India-specific approach for microbial benchmarking, which is necessary given our unique diet

● Adopting a science-based approach

What future trends in the microbiome space is MicrobioTX preparing to lead?

One of the key future trends in wellness and in microbiome space is that of personalisation and precision, aligned with the broader move towards precision medicine. MicrobioTx, having already launched a key hyper-personalised offering with Personal ProbioTx is in a unique position to lead this trend. Another trend that we are preparing to lead is to bridge the gap between microbial science in research, and clinical applications (therapeutics). Given our strong focus on research and data-driven approach, we believe we would be leading this trend in the future.