July 16, 2025 (Woburn, MA) —Today, the pioneering nonprofit OpenBiome, becomes the OpenBiome Foundation – a bold evolution designed to fuel innovation, and ensure microbiome science delivers real impact for people all over the world. The shift reflects a changing regulatory environment while expanding on early successes and expertise.

Founded over a decade ago as a spinout from MIT, OpenBiome played a defining role in the microbiome field by providing safe access to investigational fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) for patients suffering from life-threatening  Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) infections. This seminal treatment from a small nonprofit bridged a critical gap in patient care and helped jump-start the field of microbiome therapeutics, leading to the first two FDA – approved live biotherapeutic (LBP) drugs for select C. diff patients.  Now, with new treatment options and a shifting regulatory landscape, OpenBiome is transforming from an FMT-distributor into a mission-driven foundation focused on unlocking the full potential of the microbiome for human health.

“Despite exciting advances, some critical barriers continue to stifle the field. The reality is more research needs to be done, and more lives still need to be saved. We’re in a position to help make that happen,” said Julie Barrett O’Brien, CEO of the OpenBiome Foundation. “As a Foundation, we’re doubling down on what we do best — leveraging our expertise, biological resources, and commitment to patients to remove these barriers and drive innovation forward. ”

By 2030, the OpenBiome Foundation aims to:

• Close critical gaps in C. diff treatment, ensuring all patients have access to safe, effective, and widely available treatments.

• Equip clinicians, scientists, and health systems with knowledge, tools, and infrastructure to advance and deliver life-changing microbiome therapies.

• Fuel scientific breakthroughs that not only redefine the role of the microbiome in human health but also pave the way for new microbiome-directed therapies.

• Develop and share high-impact resources that empower the research community, accelerate discoveries, and enable researchers to build on one another’s work.