How Carbohydrates Found In Human Milk Can Heal Your Gut, Improve Immunity and Much More

Today I bring on Alex Martinez, who is co-founder and CEO of Intrinsic Medicine. Alex served as a Director at Ionis Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company specializing in developing RNA-targeted therapeutics.

Previously, he co-founded and served as Director at a clinical-stage digital health company, and was an associate attorney with Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, a U.S. law firm .

He received his Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School and his Bachelor of Arts in Health & Societies from the University of Pennsylvania.

2:30 How Alex Got Into Health and Wellness?

• Worked at a therapeutic company prior
• At Ionis, ran the competitive analysis side
• Alex realized that safety was hampering drug development
• Founded Intrinsic Medicine from a safety first standpoint

06:40 How Alex picked human milk oligosaccharides?

• All our chronic diseases come from dysbiosis and immune system disregulation
• Found human milk oligosaccharides in high concentrations in human milk
• Started looking them individually to see if they could help heal the human body
• This can re-regulate

11:40 Oligosaccharides are not important for calories, just for healthy growth?

• During pregnancy, women with rheumatoid arthritis go into remission
• Taking these compounds orally helps gut – reduces inflammation
• They also help immune system perform better

16:20 Are these compounds immune suppressive in any way?

• The oligosaccharides do not suppress immune response
• They help balance the immune system
• Humera was a drug that is a monoclonal antibody for inflammatory conditions
• When people use Humera for a long time, it increases risk of cancer, severe infections and heart problems
• This is the challenge with pharmaceuticals

22:00 What’s the regulatory approach to getting them approved?

• These compounds are already in milk formula for infants
• This allows the company to jump right into phase 2 clinical trials
• Alex is working to do this process the right way

26:30 How is the regulatory development strategy designed?

• Testing in Australia first, its easier to move faster
• They want to generate clinical data for global regulatory discussions

33:20 How are HMO’s created synthetically and safely?

• Synthetic biology companies can help create the carbohydrates in fermentation conditions
• Then they are isolated – so completely identical

35:45 How will these compounds go to market?

• These will be drugs in the near future
• Alex is also trying to help create supplements can help ameliorate conditions

39:35 How can you find Alex?

• Go to IntrinsicMedicine.com and sign up for Alex’s newsletter

See other podcasts with Faraz Khan.