Verb Biotics Launches LX03™, a Commercial Christensenella minuta Strain for Metabolic Health

Verb Biotics today announced the commercial availability of Christensenella minuta, LX03™, a next-generation metabolic health probiotic ingredient for dietary supplements.

Metabolic health now spans weight, blood sugar, cholesterol, liver, and longevity health. About 15% of U.S. adults have used GLP-1 medications, 42% have metabolic syndrome, and more than 98 million have prediabetes. Metabolic dysfunction is no longer a niche health concern. Consumers are managing overlapping metabolic challenges and demanding efficacious solutions that address the interconnected biology behind metabolic health.

A metabolic health champion. Research consistently finds C. minuta at higher abundance in lean, metabolically healthy adults, and in healthy older adults and centenarians. “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.”

Gut-Liver metabolic signaling. Like the gut and brain, the gut and liver are in constant communication. Bile acids are key messengers in that exchange, carrying signals involved in 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 a distinctive ability to support gut-liver communication.

“We tend to think of bile acids as digestive helpers, but they’re also key metabolic messengers,” said 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.”

LX03 is part of the extensive C. minuta library that was acquired by Verb Biotics in 2023 from Ysopia Bioscience, a French biotherapeutics company that pioneered the development of C. minuta-based solutions. Building on this scientific foundation, Verb has further expanded the library through its Verb Discovery Lab and holds 29 issued patents covering its C. minuta strains. From this collection, LX03 was identified as the most potent C. minuta strain for its potential to act as a master regulator of metabolic health. Originally isolated from a healthy human, LX03 is non-GMO and self-affirmed GRAS.

“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.”

Availability. LX03 is now available to dietary supplement brands at a recommended daily dose of 1 billion AFU (active fluorescent units). LX03 can be formulated as a hero metabolic health ingredient into powders, capsules, and stick packs.