PRESS RELEASE - 10/07/2009
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. October 7, 2009. Intralytix, Inc.
announced today that it has received a U.S. Army Phase I STTR
grant supporting the development of a bacteriophage-based probiotic preparation for managing
Shigella infections.
"
Shigella species are major gastrointestinal (GI) tract
pathogens of particular concern to the US Army, and they are a
significant worldwide cause of diarrheal disease,"
stated Alexander Sulakvelidze, Intralytix's Chief Scientist and
Principal Investigator of the STTR grant. He added: "The
bacterium has been estimated to cause ca. 90,000 foodborne cases
of shigellosis/year in the United States, and ca. 165 million
worldwide cases of shigellosis/year.
Approximately 163 million of the latter illnesses occur in
developing countries (including countries where US troops are
stationed), where they cause ca. 1.1 million deaths annually.
The award will enable Intralytix to begin proof-of-concept
studies during which we will develop tools to examine the value
of using naturally occurring bacteriophages (or phages)
delivered as part of a probiotic diet to reduce significantly
the incidence and severity of shigellosis. Although not
typically thought of as probiotic organisms, bacteriophages
clearly fit the latter's definition
adopted by the
Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN) and the World
Health Organization (WHO), and we believe that such novel,
phage-based
probiotics may become invaluable for the future
management of
Shigella infections."
Intralytix's CEO, John Woloszyn, further added "In addition to
supporting the development of an exciting new product, we
believe that the data obtained during the grant will enable us
to develop a completely new line of phage-based products for
Intralytix's portfolio." He added that: "Using bacteriophages
as probiotic/nutraceutical products is a novel idea, and our
company holds a patent for using phages to reduce bacterial
colonization
,
including colonization of the GI and nasal tracts
.
If the studies performed during our Phase I project are
successful as we fully anticipate they will provide a strong
basis for moving forward with Phase II grant support from the
Army, which will play a major role in bringing this exciting
technology and product closer to the marketplace."
Mr. Woloszyn also noted that Army grants have previously
supported and continue to support Intralytix's development of
other phage-based products, including food additives that
protect food from contamination with
Escherichia coli
O157:H7,
Salmonella and
Shigella, and a
preparation for treating
Acinetobacter baumannii-infected
wounds. Finally, he noted that, while the U.S. Army's Research
Office supports the project, such support does not necessarily
reflect the position or the policy of the U.S. Government, and
no official endorsement should be inferred.
Intralytix, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on using its
core bacteriophage/phage technology platform to improve human
health through the development and commercialization of
innovative products for
food safety and
human therapeutics.
For more information, contact John Woloszyn (410-625-0300 /
jwoloszyn@intralytix.com) or Dr. Alexander Sulakvelidze
(410-625-2533 /
asulakvelidze@intralytix.com).
