First Pill For Fecal Transplants Wins FDA Approval

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. health officials have approved the first pill that uses healthy bacteria from human waste to fight dangerous gut infections — an easier way of performing so-called fecal transplants.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the treatment Wednesday for adults who have trouble fighting off infections of an intestinal bug that causes thousands of deaths annually.

The capsules from Seres Therapeutics are an easier-to-use version of a treatment some doctors have used for over a decade.

It involves taking stool from healthy donors and using it to replenish healthy gut bacteria in patients at high risk for repeat infections.