uBiome Cease Operations and Liquidate - Chapter 7

uBiome website explorer.ubiome.com is still operational for the time being, however, anyone having a uBiome online account that contains test results is encouraged to copy whatever information you wish to keep before the site is taken down.

due to uBiome's inability to obtain funding to continue operations during the Chapter 11 process, they had no alternative but to shut down operations, file for Chapter 7, and to liquidate the company's assets.

After months of challenges and setbacks, the Silicon Valley company, uBiome is shutting down. On September 3, 2019, MEBO was informed by uBiome that the company filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection, and that this measure would not affect the MEBO research study, Clinical Trial, NCT03582826, Microbial Basis of Systemic Malodor and PATM Conditions, a research study funded by a uBiome research grant. However, due to uBiome's inability to obtain funding to continue operations during the Chapter 11 process, they had no but alternative to shut down operations, file for Chapter 7, and to liquidate the company's assets.

PRESS RELEASE BY UBIOME:

uBiome Converts Chapter 11 Case to Chapter 7 Petition;

Company to Cease Operations and Liquidate

San Francisco, October 1, 2019 – uBiome, Inc., today announced that it has requested that the Bankruptcy Court presiding over its pending Chapter 11 bankruptcy convert its case to a liquidation under Chapter 7 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. A hearing at which the Bankruptcy Court will consider uBiome’s request has not been scheduled.

The Company had been in discussions with its post-bankruptcy lenders and the statutory Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in an attempt to secure access to its post-bankruptcy financing facility and settle disputes with the Committee, but was unable to reach agreements on these matters. Management and the independent directors of the Board of uBiome have determined that, without consensus among the Committee, the lenders and the Company, the conversion to a case under Chapter 7 is in the best interests of uBiome and its stakeholders.

If uBiome’s motion is approved by the Bankruptcy Court, the liquidation of uBiome’s business will be administered under the oversight of a Court-appointed trustee.

uBiome is advised in this matter by Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, LLP.

Anyone having a uBiome online account that contains test results is encouraged to copy whatever information you wish to keep before the site is taken down.

A few days later, MEBO received an email from the scientist who has been providing MEBO with support in the management of the research grant provided to MEBO by uBiome. In this email, she explains, "this was extremely unexpected and due to a disruption in the financing that was funding our ongoing operations during the bankruptcy process...I cannot express how sorry I am for the immense disruption to your projects that this causes."

MEBO'S POSITION ON THIS MATTER:

1. MEBO regrets the turn of events that everyone involved, employees and clients, have had to endure with the final outcome of this development. We wish the uBiome employees who steadfastly dedicated their expertise on a daily basis to provide services to their clients, our gratitude for the fine service they offered MEBO. We wish each of them well in their future endeavors.
2. MEBO is grateful for the research grant uBiome provided us, at no cost to MEBO. We are also grateful for all the data uBiome has provided on the samples MEBO participants provided.
3. The Business Insider's above referenced article states, "insiders told Business Insider that the company's key science was flawed from the start, prompting the company to start an internal investigation.
   
   • It is unclear whether indeed there were scientific procedural mishaps or whether this is a case of disgruntled employees who lash out under these unfortunate circumstances. The investigation will shed more light on this matter moving forward.
   • These insiders questioned sample contamination issues. Whether or not this was indeed the case, it would not really affect the MEBO study results, as we are looking at common trends in aggregate data.
   • In addition, the primary focus of the conflict is primarily on the question of how accurately the uBiome SMART GUT test was diagnosing IBS and other gastrointestinal issues while uBiome was charging insurance companies for the test. Nonetheless, this was not an issue for concern in the MEBO study, since the tests performed for MEBO fall under the Explorer studies and were not with the aim of providing diagnosis, but rather to provide raw data about the gut microbiome that MEBO could use for the purposes of our research study.
4. When seeing what other similar options available in the scientific world to examine gut microbiome, it is MEBO's opinion that other companies like American Gut and Viome are not necessarily doing a better job than uBiome was, in terms of the science. The problem is that uBiome is facing legal challenges, and at least so far, the others are not.

This MEBO clinical trial is in its final stages of data analysis and will soon publish the conclusion. Meanwhile, the updates on findings by Irene Gabashvili, PhD., Principal Investigator, can be found in the following posts in the Aurametrix Blog:

1. Alloprevotella: September 4, 2019
2. Epulopiscium: August 19, 2019
3. Friends and Stars: August 14, 2019
4. PATM and TMAU: August 5, 2019
5. Feeding microbiomes: July 21, 2019
6. Blood type: June 2, 2019
7. First 41 results: November 21, 2018
8. Press Release: November 28, 2018
9. What we hope to learn: June 27, 2018
10. MEBO Microbiome Study: June 215, 2018
11. Microbes of anti-social odor: March 14, 2018
12. Crowdsourcing precision medicine: February 23, 2018

We are most grateful to uBiome for their very generous research grant and to Irene for her dedication and leadership in this research study.

María

María de la Torre Founder and Executive Director A Public Charity maria.delatorre@meboresearch.com www.meboresearch.org www.mebo.com.br/ MEBO's Blog (English) El Blog de MEBO (español) MEBO Brasil - Blog (Portuguese)

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