I learned something this week. I can’t eat eggs.
Within an hour of consuming one, my body turns on itself. My head gets foggy, my toes tingle and the couch turns irresistible.
It’s entirely new. Before this summer, eggs never did any harm.
It turns out, for once in my life, I may be fashionable... and the aches and pains may have spotlighted a major moneymaking opportunity.
You see, while we’re still not sure what’s wrong with me, the likely culprit is some sort of bacterial glitch in my system. All those tiny bugs that are supposed to do good things... are doing bad things.
What I’ve learned during this process is that despite years of pumping our bodies full of antibiotics, scientists now admit it’s those very microbes we’re trying to kill that are vital to our health in many ways previously not understood.
We’ve all heard the effects of a century’s worth of bacteria abuse. Superbugs... ineffective antibiotics... hospital outbreaks.
We’ve reached a breaking point. Now things are getting serious.
It’s one of the most fashionable and exciting trends in medicine.
In fact, just last Wednesday a group of leading scientists called for a government-led initiative to research the role microbes play in our health. This important news comes on the heels of Obama asking Congress earlier this year to spend $1.2 billion for bacteria research - essentially doubling down on its prior spending.
“This is the beginning of the shot to the moon,” said Jeffery F. Miller, a top scientist behind the movement.
We’re convinced it’s all good news for investors.
What’s really eye-catching is how the idea of “microbiomes” - the term used to describe the sort of super-organism created by millions of individual microbes living and working together in our bodies - binds the world of Big Pharma and the food we eat.
For instance, one of the biggest threats to Big Pharma isn’t insurance cutbacks and patent cliffs. No, these days, it’s competition from some of the world’s largest food companies.
Again, it all ties back to the fact scientists now believe what’s in our guts is critical to our health.
Early indications are that Nestle SA (VX:NESN) - the Swiss food giant - is staging a deep-pocketed attack. Its new health-focused division already has $2.1 billion in annual sales... and is aiming to grow it by over 500% within the next five years. To do it, the company is reportedly looking into “superfoods” that target everything from stomach ailments to Alzheimer’s.
To directly target the quickly growing “microbiome” market, Nestle dumped over $65 million into freshly IPOed Seres Therapeutics Inc (O:MCRB) earlier this year. It’s a landmark move as we watch the world of medicine and food combine.
It marks the first few steps into what many believe is medicine’s next frontier.
As I said, this is a quickly growing trend. And, of course, Nestle isn’t alone. That’s where investors should take note.
Sanofi (PA:SASY), Abbott Laboratories (N:ABT), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: N:JNJ) and even Alphabet Inc (O:GOOGL) - formerly known as Google (O:GOOGL) - have all spent big money to gear up for this trend. Pfizer Inc (N:PFE) has been a big mover in the movement as well. It’s working to see how the microbiome affects obesity... and, of course, it wants to create a pill that can help fix it.
Perhaps the biggest move, though, came from Merck (NYSE: N:MRK). It made waves this year when it surprised the market with an $8.3 billion acquisition of antibiotic giant Cubist Pharmaceuticals.
Remember, both Merck and Pfizer told us earlier this week to expect many more acquisitions as their traditional sources of growth go stagnant. Their quarterly profit reports made it clear moves like the Cubist buyout are just the beginning.
It was a wake-up call for the industry and its investors... telling us bacteria are worth big bucks.
Many experts believe this trend will change the face of modern medicine. Current antibiotic technology already looks antiquated and, frankly, is becoming dangerous.
Over the next few years, research shows the microbiome market will expand at a clip of about 22% each year. That’s huge growth for a sector that faces headwinds in many other areas.
As we see a surge in acquisitions by Big Pharma, you can bet innovators in the field will be the prime targets
Keep an eye on this one. As the microbiome trend takes hold, we’ll see new superbugs, super-cures... and super-profits.