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World IP Day 2026 — Recognized Innovator

David Whitlock

  • Founding Scientist
  • AOBiome LLC

Recognized as the inventor and founding scientist behind AOBiome’s microbiome therapeutics platform. His work on ammonia oxidizing bacteria laid the scientific and patent foundation for a new class of live topical biotherapeutics now in late-stage clinical development. 

Certificate of Recognition

Top IP Innovator — Biotech & Microbiome Therapeutics · 2026

AOBiome Patents (last 5 years)
0
First Filing
2000
USPTO Art Unit Focus
1645 / 1653
Role
Founding Scientist
Presented by InspireIP

World IP Day Recognition Series · 2026

AOBiome patents, last 5 years
0
Filed in 2023 alone
0 +
Recognition category
0 Biotech
The Recognition

From a question about horses to a clinical-stage therapeutic platform

On World IP Day 2026, InspireIP recognizes David Whitlock for his role as the inventor and founding scientist behind AOBiome. The Cambridge-based biotech company is actively developing live topical biotherapeutics for inflammatory skin conditions.

His first filings date back to 2000, more than a decade before AOBiome was formally incorporated. The origin story is well documented: in 2001, Whitlock, an MIT-trained chemical engineer, was asked why horses roll in dirt. He studied soil samples, identified ammonia oxidizing bacteria as a key species, and hypothesized that reintroducing these bacteria to human skin could restore immune functions lost to modern hygiene. He then spent years and his own money filing patents worldwide to protect that idea before AOBiome was founded in 2013.

Today, AOBiome’s portfolio spans 125+ patents, covering composition of matter for its proprietary strain of Nitrosomonas eutropha,with methods of treating skin conditions like acne, eczema, rosacea, and even hypertension. 

Ammonia Oxidizing Bacteria
Skin Microbiome
Atopic Dermatitis
Live Biotherapeutics
Nitric Oxide Pathways
Topical Drug Delivery
Patent Footprint

A portfolio that predates the company it protects

2000–2003

David Whitlock files his first patent covering compositions including ammonia oxidizing bacteria to increase production of nitric oxide. These early filings are made in his own name, years before AOBiome exists as a company. He funds the worldwide filings himself.

2013

AOBiome is formally founded by David Whitlock, Jamie Heywood, Hilly Thompson, and Lenny Barshack. The company licenses the intellectual property and begins building a clinical development program around Whitlock's original discovery.

2015–2020

AOBiome begins clinical trials, starting with Phase 2 in acne. The patent portfolio grows as the company files around its proprietary strain of N. eutropha, methods of treatment for specific conditions, and manufacturing processes, with 16 filings in 2020 alone.

2021–2025

The portfolio accelerates sharply. 125 patents across five years, peaking at 34 filings in 2023. AOBiome completes a 547-patient Phase 2b study in atopic dermatitis, secures composition of matter patents in the US, Europe, Japan, Canada, India, and Australia.

Biotech & Microbiome Therapeutics

A small-entity company filing like a much larger one

AOBiome is classified by the USPTO as a Small Entity, yet its five-year filing volume sits well above what is typical for clinical-stage biotech companies of its size. 

Much of that activity is concentrated in the biotech and organic chemistry art units that protect therapeutic compositions, treatment methods, and manufacturing processes for live biotherapeutics.

Patents in last 5 years
Peak year (2023)
34
USPTO entity status
Small Entity
Art unit focus
1645 / 1653
"Leading an innovation program is harder than inventing on your own. It means choosing what to file, who to credit, and where to invest, over and over, for years. The leaders we recognize on World IP Day have done that consistently, and built something that compounds."

Sam Zellner

Founder, InspireIP · Inventor · Innovation Leader

About AOBiome

Built in Cambridge, preparing for global Phase 3 trials

Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, AOBiome is a clinical-stage biotech company developing live topical biotherapeutics for inflammatory skin conditions. 

The company’s platform is built around a single proprietary strain of ammonia oxidizing bacteria whose presence in the human microbiome has been largely eliminated by modern soaps, cosmetics, and hygiene products. Once applied to the skin, these bacteria produce nitric oxide, a signaling molecule that helps regulate inflammation and immune response.

The company has an exclusive license agreement with Maruho for development in Japan and a positive EMA pediatric investigation plan supporting EU development. AOBiome has raised nearly $100 million in funding and has active Phase 3 and Phase 2 clinical programs. The pace of filing is what makes that kind of clinical and commercial expansion defensible.

IP Day 2027

Know an IP innovator who deserves recognition?

Each year we recognize the inventors and IP leaders behind the portfolios that protect what their companies create. That includes founder-inventors whose contributions often go unmarked. Nominate someone for next year’s list.

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