OpenBiome co-founders James Burgess and Mark Smith have a unique method to help patients sick with infections of a bacteria called C. difficile, which wreak havoc on one’s gut.
Patients who have C. difficile suffer from extreme gastrointestinal distress.
Burgess and Smith said they founded OpenBiome after watching a friend and family member suffer through 18 months of C. difficile and seven rounds of vancomycin before finally receiving a successful, life-changing Fecal Microbiota Transplantation (FMT).
Essentially, that means consuming fecal matter, and there are several ways to do so, including pills.
The founders said that the remarkable efficacy of the FMT treatment and the great lengths required to receive it convinced them to expand access.
OpenBiome has shipped about 2,000 treatments to 185 hospitals around the country, according to the Washington Post.
To become a donor isn’t an easy process, and requires one’s poop to be really, really healthy. Those who pass the intense screening process earn “$40 a sample, with a $50 bonus if you come in five days a week. That’s $250 for a week of donations, or $13,000 a year,” according to the Post.
Read much more about the company and the requirements to be a donor, in the Washington Post article.
