Microbes as Drugs: The Potential of Pharmabiotics

: The objective of this invited commentary is to increase health care provider awareness of pharmabiotics, living microbes, as a therapeutic modality that is poised to enter the market. As understanding of the link between the microbiome and health grows stronger, so does the potential to improve human health by utilizing live microbes as therapeutics. In recent years, data on the potential therapeutic use of microbes has expanded considerably, along with associated nomenclature including "probiotics," "prebiotics," "synbiotics," "psychobiotics," and "pharmabiotics.