The French Government Defence procurement agency invests €900,000 towards Pherecydes Pharma managed €1.2-million project, involving several university and military laboratories.
Pherecydes Pharma is attending the Forum coorganised by PHAG ESPOIRS and LE LIEN associations, as well as their partners, Narbonne Hospital and City, on January 25, 2012 in Narbonne - France, at 9h15, in Le Théatre.
Biotech Finance press details the purpose of this investiment targeting the set up of a phage bioproduction unit and testing of 2 therapeutic products in human clinical trials.
Meeting the Belgian biotech companies at the 2011 Forum Bio-Entrepreneurs held in the Bourse de Commerce de Paris, December 6, 2011.
Innovations
Screecring and characterization of phages
Pherecydes Pharma has developed an internal screening process, supported by large collections of E. coli, Pseudomonas and Staphylococcus strains, including multidrug-resistant germs from patients, in order to build efficient bacteriophage banks.
Thus, Pherceydes Pharma masters a comprehensive system to elaborate therapeutic phage cocktails with high specificity against pathogens and without side effects: tests performed in vivo, per os, against a infection bearing multidrug-resistance to antibiotics lead to spectacular results in terms of efficiency, safety and bioavailability. Now, the first cocktails are ready to be evaluated in preclinical testing regulations.
The measures of interactions with drugs and medical devices used for the topical treatment of infections have been completed.
Various stability tests of phages to medium, pH and temperature were also performed.
Finally, different technologies are being explored to develop companion diagnostic products.
TAPE: Targeted Accelerated Protein Evolution
Within a selected gene, TAPE is an in vitro technology allowing to rapidly & simultaneously introduce random mutations in any number of selected regions, while conserving intact any number of coding domains.
Mutated and untouched regions are preliminary defined, as well as the densities of required mutations.
TAPE is applicable to any known gene type, for creating variability in proteins (such as phage homing fibrils), enzymes, antibodies (including MAB)..., while preserving macromolecule function and or activity.
- TAPE leads to creating analogues of bio macromolecules, while preserving their activities.
- Subsequent analogues can be target tested to detect those with better inhibition or activation parameters.
Ab-ACCUS: Phage Engineering
A recombination technology allowing the rapid & efficient production of phage banks in which each individual differs from all others for at least one component of its host-targeting system.
- The combination of TAPE and Ab-ACCUS leads to millions of phage variotypes, with modified host range profiles and the capacity to infect a variety of bacterial serotypes within a single species.
RIPh: Reversible Inhibition of Phages
- A process for stopping phage replication in host, once DNA is injected into bacteria.
- A reversible system to restart phage DNA replication and lytic cycle, as needed.