CPHI Barcelona Speaker Interview: Rare diseases and the microbiome boom

At CPHI Barcelona (24–26 October, 2023) we took the time to catch up with one of our speakers, Rajiv Khatau who gave a presentation on: The Microbiome Boom - Unlocking Potential Through Listening to the Gut and was a panellist on: Why Building a Collaborative Network is Essential for Rare Disease Therapies. 

Rajiv Khatau is a globally renowned Thought Leader on pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals and food/beverage ingredients.  

Khatau is a General Partner and principal of LODAAT LIFE SCIENCES GENERAL PARTNER. The LODAAT LIFE SCIENCES FUND, invests in global IP assets in the pharmaceutical space – specifically in orphan drugs, rare diseases, and generic pharmaceuticals.  

He is Managing Director of LODAAT LLC a US based firm renowned for its innovation and science in generic pharmaceuticals, OTC and natural ingredients for issues affecting women and children’s health, oncology, immunity, prenatal and dietary supplements. With over 18+ years of experience with the US and emerging markets;  Mr. Khatau and his science team are acknowledged as a creative force in regulatory and research for small molecules, global trends and the Nutraceutical/ Pharmaceutical industry.  The firm has partnerships with government and private organizations in Latin America, SE Asia, Middle East, and Sub Saharan Africa; and has registrations of major pharmaceutical products to reduce key diseases in these markets.

Mr. Khatau’s firms have been awarded INC 500 status (fastest growing privately held firm) and awarded Best Science Exporter by The State of Illinois USA (2014, and 2016), one of the highest accolades from the Governor's Office.  He was honored at the AMERICAN EXPRESS GROW GLOBAL conference in 2015 as an official Knowledge Partner to CPHI Pharmaceutical conferences.  

On the academic front, Khatau and his Lodaat team have developed revolutionary Technological innovations and Clinical Trials with globally accredited academic institutions.

He holds a Bachelor of Science from The University of Southern California, and an MBA from The University of Chicago.  He resides in the Chicago-area.

Could you give just a quick brief overview of your session that you'll be speaking on today?

So, first of all, we're really honoured that CPHI has come to us and chosen us to speak on the Gut Microbiome session and be a panellist on the Rare Disease Session. There are thousands of pharmaceutical companies here at CPHI, and being selected for our innovation and pipeline is truly an honour.  

We have just recently established the LODAAT LIFE SCIENCE FUND to make investments in molecules and biosimilars---and because Lodaat is a leader in the microbiome, the session is basically about our investments and clinicals on the gut, and the microbiome.   We start off with an overall background of what the gut is, what the microbiota is, and how it interacts with the entire body. Also what are the key indicators or benchmarks. We’re not only measuring a healthy gut, but also measuring how and what therapies are needed to get to a goal. It's really providing context.

Then in terms of what pharma companies, nutraceutical companies, OTC companies – health and wellness companies – need to look at in order to evaluate how and what therapies can make an effective gut microbiome. It is a science based presentation,  but it's also a presentation based on the fact that we have a lot of pharmaceutical executives specifically at CPHI. It is catered to them in terms of, what to look for, and how to build their portfolio. Lodaat actually has a fund established to invest in and partner with other pharmaceutical companies, both in terms of development, and in terms of increasing their portfolios. So I hope the session is informative. 

Lucy: Sounds like a good way to build some partnerships there. 

Yes, one of Lodaat’s mandates is to explore, to disseminate, and to share science and information. Both our science, because we do a lot of clinicals ourselves, but also  peer reviewed science from other companies. So that's part of the session as well, we actually dig into about three or four different clinical trials from outside the pharma industry, and then a couple that we have done as well. It's built into the culture of Lodaat. We were founded by therapists and scientists who really value data driven points and the scientific process. 

So what are some of the consumer trends driving the industry right now that particularly stand out?

One of the consumer trends is just understanding what the gut is. That's such a huge area. Finding out what prebiotics and probiotics are and how do they affect the gut? There’s the gut–brain axis, the gut–brain–skin axis. I've even read about the gut–kidney axis. How it affects cognition, how it affects depression, just a whole host of different areas. So just understanding what the gut is, to understanding what some of the formulations and ingredients are, and then understanding how the gut affects different areas in the body. I think that that is one of the biggest trends here, understanding the effects of all the different bacteria. There's over 100 trillion bacteria. We are more bacteria than we are actually human. So people are just beginning to understand that and that interplay as well.

How can how can the field better accommodate patient needs? What other ways are Lodaat trying to drive those needs?

A lot of it has to do with personalised medicine; and the gut is so personalised, because everyone's microbiota is extremely different. And it's not only different within individuals, but it's different within the timespan of the individual, so that personalisation is not only for individuals, but it's about time within that individual. There's a lot of new technology that's out there that has developed to measure that interplay within the timeframe of someone's lifespan, and how to use it. There's a lot of technology, but there's still a lot that needs to happen in terms of understanding. But it's coming about, at Lodaat we actually have patented several products, which we're very excited about, new technologies the ingredient side, as well as on the formulation side. And other people are doing the same.

What are some of the challenges that you're coming up against in the field at the minute? 

So one of the challenges is just this, it's such a complex subject. The microbiota interplays with rare diseases. So understanding that it's very challenging. But that being said, the learning curve on that is also growing very quickly, which is one of the reasons we established this fund – specifically to develop products, high value molecules, rare disease molecules, orphan drug molecules; we have many of these in our portfolio, but we are also wanting to develop new ones. And we are working to find partners in the distribution of these. 

I think that's always a challenge to get that development work, but I wouldn't say it's necessarily a block, I think it's just part of the execution process, and that’s also what CPHI is all about!

What are your main priorities here at CPHI? 

I think one is to find good partners. I mean, I think that's the key, with networking and finding the partnerships. The second is to leverage these partnerships and use the LODAAT LIFE SCIENCE FUND to make sizable investments in molecules and biosimilars to help our partners expand their portfolio. Lastly, to learn and provide science-based information. As I said, one of our mandates is we are a science-based organisation, so we're not really marketing driven and many of our customers are here so it’s good to have that interaction and get that information across in person. 

Finally, what do you think are some key trends for 2024?  

I mean, obviously, the gut microbiome is very important, but I also think there's a lot of new molecules that are out there that are coming about in terms of CNS, oncology, rare disease and orphan drugs, and the generalisation of biosimilars. Many of these portfolios that we're looking into will be big areas in the coming year.   

To see the full microbiome presentation on demand, click here.