OpenBiome Announces Free Access To Stool Preparations For Public Health Research Related To COVID-19

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CAMBRIDGE, Mass.— OpenBiome is providing free research stool preparations for public health work related to COVID-19, including the development of stool assays for SARS-CoV-2. This initiative is part of OpenBiome’s mission to catalyze scientific discovery and, with the ongoing public health emergency, help the field better understand the SARS-CoV-2 virus and how to mitigate its impact on public health.

Academic investigators may request free fecal microbiota preparations for research (FMP-R) packs—stool biospecimens designed for use in non-clinical research (not for use in humans). Each FMP-R pack includes 25x 1 mL aliquots of concentrated human fecal microbiota isolated from a single, rigorously screened, healthy human donor and combined with a glycerol/saline buffer.

OpenBiome is supporting efforts by researchers in the FMT field to increase our understanding of COVID-19 and the gastrointestinal tract, and to support the development of assays that could benefit the broader public health community.

OpenBiome looks forward to supporting your vitally important work during this public health crisis. Please contact us with your questions or ideas at science@openbiome.org.

How to Request Research Materials

COVID-19 material requests will be evaluated on an expedited timeline. All requests must be received by July 1, 2020. Please fill out a Non-Clinical Research Request Form with information about your planned COVID-19 work to apply for this program.

Stool preparations will be delivered on dry ice via overnight courier with temperature verification, and will be ready to use, or can be stored at -20 or -80 degrees Celsius. Investigators will be responsible for shipping costs, but no other fees will apply.

More information on FMP-R pack specifications and potential applications can be found in OpenBiome’s Research Collaboration Guide for Non-Clinical Researchers and on OpenBiome’s Non-Clinical Research webpage.

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About OpenBiome

OpenBiome is the first public stool bank, and a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, founded to expand safe access to fecal transplantation for patients with recurrent C. difficile infections and to catalyze research on the microbiome’s role in human health. OpenBiome provides clinicians with rigorously screened, ready-to-use preparations and supports researchers with a suite of tools to discover how gut bacteria might treat diseases beyond C. difficile.Since 2013, OpenBiome has partnered with over 1,250 healthcare institutions across all 50 states to deliver more than 55,000 treatments for recurrent C. difficile.Its research portfolio includes 34% of all active and completed trials in the United States exploring the use of fecal transplants to treat disease. For more information, visit http://www.openbiome.org.

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