Maryland Technology Development Corporation issued the following announcement on Dec. 13.
Adaptive Phage Therapeutics (APT), a clinical-stage biotechnology company founded to provide an effective therapeutic response to the global rise of multi-drug resistant (MDR) pathogenic bacteria, today announced it has entered into a collaboration agreement with the Paul Turner Lab at Yale University to manufacture and supply therapeutic bacteriophage (phage) for use in clinical trials. Through this collaboration, APT is committed to leveraging the exquisite specificity and potency of phage in the fight against the global rise of MDR infections.
Under the terms of the agreement, APT will manufacture therapeutic phage in their state-of-the-art facilities under the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Good Manufacturing Practice conditions. APT has the only facility specifically designed and focused on the rapid and precise delivery of phage therapy. The facility includes a first of its kind robotic aseptic filling system, separate phage amplification and purification labs, and automated companion diagnostic systems capability of rapid matching of a patient’s bacteria to the world’s largest collection of therapeutic phage (PhageBank™).
“APT is thrilled to partner with the Paul Turner Lab to support their pioneering phage therapy initiatives, which have the promise to help combat the growing antibiotic resistance crisis,” said Greg Merril, chief executive officer and co-founder of APT. “This collaboration with Yale, and their planned clinical trials, will allow us to bring phage therapy to a broader range of clinical indications and an additional group of patients who may benefit from new therapies.”
Antibiotic resistance and multi-drug resistant infections are one of the biggest threats to global health, with infections becoming increasingly common and more difficult to treat. Phages are viruses that, in nature, are the most prolific bacteria killers on earth. Phages administered directly to patients hold promise to clear a bacterial infection with no adverse effect on healthy cells or beneficial bacteria.
About Bacteriophages
Bacteriophage (phage), or bacteria eater, are a type of virus that infects and replicates within bacteria, leading to bacterial death. Phage have evolved to be highly specific, with a single phage strain infecting a very limited range of bacterial strains. Based on this specificity, phage therapy can be precisely targeted to pathogenic bacteria, while sparing beneficial bacteria. Although the use of phage to treat pathogenic bacterial infections goes back over a hundred years, modern technology has allowed for the cost effective, rapid, and precise pairing of phage to pathogenic bacteria.
Original source can be found here.
Source: Maryland Technology Development Corporation
Alerts Sign-up