CARB-X funds Phico to develop new intravenous engineered bacteriophage drug

Global non-profit partnership CARB-X is funding privately-held UK company Phico Therapeutics to develop a new intravenous engineered bacteriophage drug to treat ventilator-associated pneumonia caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

The CARB-X award provides up to $5.3 million to support preclinical development of Phico’s SASPject PT3.9 project, plus up to $12.86 million more if the program progresses successfully through safety to Phase I first-in-human clinical studies, subject to available funding.

Phico’s SASPject technology is said to be ground-breaking in that it uses engineered bacterial viruses combined with antibacterial small acid-soluble spore proteins (SASPs) to precisely target the Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria and inactivate the bacteria’s DNA, stopping them from reproducing and spreading.