BiomX in-licenses novel for orphan liver disease

Israeli microbiome company BiomX has licensed a new set of bacterial targets from JSR Corporation (TYO: 4185), for the development and commercialization of phage therapies for primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), an orphan liver disease.

While studying intestinal barrier dysfunction implicated in the pathogenesis of PSC, Dr Takanori Kanai, Professor of Department of Internal Medicine Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Keio University School of Medicine, Japan, and his research team discovered in the microbiome of patients with PSC specific strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae (Kp) that disrupt the epithelial barrier. The presence of those strains triggers additional bacterial translocation and liver inflammatory responses. The results of this study were recently published in Nature Microbiology.

"Our study identified disease-modulating pathobionts from patients with PSC. One of the key functions of these pathobionts is to disrupt the intestinal epithelial barrier and cause a 'leaky gut'," said Prof Kanai, adding: "Strain specific bacterial targeting thechniques, such as BiomX's phage therapy, have the potential to eradicate these harmful bacteria and possibly treat PSC at its root cause."