Engineered living therapeutics for chronic disease
Esperance Biotech is developing a novel engineered living therapeutic platform to address chronic disorders with profound medical needs.
diseases linked to gut-derived metabolites
have a therapy designed to address the underlying microbial mechanism
Source: GMMAD (Gut Microbial Metabolite Association with Disease) database, v2.0
Where We’re Starting
Trimethylaminuria (TMAU) is a rare metabolic disorder in which the body cannot properly metabolize trimethylamine (TMA), a compound produced by gut bacteria when digesting common nutrients like choline and carnitine found in eggs, fish, red meat, and dairy. As TMA builds up, it’s released through sweat, breath, and urine, causing a persistent odor that hygiene alone cannot resolve.
The impact goes far beyond the physical. Many patients face chronic anxiety, depression, social isolation, and discrimination at school, at work, and in daily life, straining relationships, derailing careers, and in many cases, leading to suicidal ideation. Yet no FDA-approved treatment exists.
At Esperance, we believe patients deserve more than lifelong symptom management. They deserve a therapy that addresses the underlying biology, and the chance to live free of this burden.
Learn more about TMAUWe Program Bacteria to Solve Problems.
A small molecule can bind a target. A biologic can deliver a protein. But neither can sense its environment nor adapt to it. Once administered, their job is fixed.
A living cell can do more. We engineer bacterial strains, already safely used in humans for decades, to sense a disease-causing compound and metabolize it continuously, right at the source. In TMAU, the body already knows how to metabolize odorous TMA. It just can’t make enough of the enzyme required, so we engineer an organism to produce it in place instead.
The result: a therapy engineered to perform the missing function right where it’s needed, without circulating through the rest of the body.
The gut is one of the most metabolically active environments in the body, and gut-derived compounds have been linked to disease well beyond it, including cardiovascular and kidney disease.
We’re building Esperance as a platform for that opportunity. TMAU is our first program. But the underlying capability, engineering a living organism to perform a missing metabolic function, isn’t specific to one disease. It’s infrastructure for a much broader class of therapeutics.
Get in touchEsperance exists for the patients who have been told there is no treatment for them, and everything we build is designed to change that answer. We engineer living organisms to correct the metabolic imbalances at the root of disease, starting with TMAU and extending to the broader category of disease shaped by the gut, because that is the scale of ambition these patients deserve.
Meet the TeamBuilt to Build.
A team driven by relentless ambition, backed by decades of experience in biotech, rare disease research, and drug commercialization.
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The Future of Medicine is Alive
We’re advancing toward our next milestones, and we can’t get there alone. We welcome investors, partners, and collaborators who share our commitment to chronic disease innovation, and if you or someone you love lives with TMAU, we especially want to hear from you.
