Verb Biotics has announced the commercial launch of its Christensenella minuta strain, LX03, for metabolic health formulations.
Research has consistently found C. minuta to be more abundant in lean, metabolically healthy adults, as well as in healthy older adults and centenarians.
It is one of the most heritable species in the human gut microbiome and is present in most people, but at levels shaped by our genetics.
“What makes Christensenella minuta so compelling is the metabolic health profile of the people who carry it,” said Camille Delebecque, Head of Biotechnology at Verb Biotics.
That consistent pattern, across study after study, is what led us to look closely at how this microbe works.
The gut and the liver constantly communicate, using bile acids as messengers to carry signals about fat absorption, cholesterol balance and glucose regulation.
LX03 produces a novel bile salt hydrolase (BSH) that generates a new class of bile acids, giving LX03 an upstream ability to support gut-liver communication, unlike more traditional biotics that work indirectly to change the gut environment.
Verb says the ingredient allows for just one microbial input to influence multiple metabolic outputs.
“We tend to think of bile acids as digestive helpers, but they’re also key metabolic messengers,” added Noah Zimmerman, Chief Science Officer at Verb Biotics.
“As they travel between the gut and liver, they bind to receptors that turn on pathways for fat absorption, energy use and blood sugar."
By modulating gut-liver crosstalk, LX03 is designed to support systemic metabolic health rather than a single outcome.
The probiotic ingredient is part of the C. minuta library Verb Biotics acquired in 2023 from Ysopia Bioscience.
Verb has continued to expand this library through its Verb Discovery Lab and now holds 29 issued patents covering its C. minuta strains.
The firm said it had identified LX03 as the most potent C. minuta strain for its potential to act as a master regulator of metabolic health.
“Metabolic health has become one of the biggest conversations in wellness and consumers are looking for something genuinely new,” said Todd Beckman, CEO of Verb Biotics.
LX03 brings together heritable gut biology, a novel bile acid mechanism and a next-generation self-affirmed GRAS strain, giving our partners a truly differentiated foundation for their next metabolic health product.
LX03 is now available to dietary supplement brands at a recommended daily dose of 1 billion AFU. The company added that the probiotic can be formulated as a hero metabolic health ingredient into formats such as powders, capsules and stick packs.
The ingredient is self-affirmed GRAS and non-GMO.
