Bacteriophage formulation for prevention of cholera infection optioned exclusively to PhagePro

A venture spun out of Tufts University School of Medicine
Technology
- Formulation of three bacteriophages that replicate inside cholera bacteria and cause disintegration by rupturing the cell wall and membranes
Why it matters
- Bacteriophage intervention affords immediate protection to at-risk populations, in contrast to the two weeks required for a cholera vaccine to take effect
- Easy to administer, especially in the wake of natural disasters or other contexts that promote the spread of cholera in vulnerable communities
- Specific for cholera bacteria: no marked disturbance of the gastrointestinal microbiome
- Simple: single-dose liquid or tablet taken by mouth, self-administered
Inventors
- Andrew Camilli, Minmin Yen, Lynne Cairns
How it happened
- Funding from National Institutes of Health and Howard Hughes Medical Institute
- Cholera-specific bacteriophages were isolated in stool samples from patients in Dhaka, Bangladesh
- Successfully completed validation of phage cocktail in animal model
Achievements
- PhagePro won second place in the Health & Life Sciences Track of the 2016 Tufts $100K New Ventures Competition
- 2018 winner at MIT Women’s unConference Startup Competition
- PhagePro operates from the Tufts Launchpad | Biolabs incubator and has been awarded an STTR grant from the National Institutes of Health