Adaptive Phage Therapeutics (APT), a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to providing therapies to treat infectious diseases, today announced that it has entered into a licensing agreement with The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) to provide APT access to the Institute’s extensive phage database. The agreement with the United States Army is synergistic with APT’s ongoing partnership with the United States Navy, providing the company with access to the pre-eminent phage database of the United States military to treat critically ill patients.
WRAIR provides unique research capabilities and innovative medical solutions to a range of Force Health Protection and Readiness challenges facing U.S. Service Members. WRAIR has developed a model of vaccine and therapeutic development to treat continually evolving diseases that pose threats of military importance in times of peace and war. The licensing agreement announced today will provide APT the opportunity to cooperate with the U.S. Army’s laboratory resources and research experts at WRAIR to strengthen the ongoing development of the company’s PhageBank™ phage library. The licensing agreement further expands APT’s relationship with the Department of Defense and affirms the company’s commitment to providing AMR treatment options for warfighters and veterans.
The phage collection at WRAIR represents a multi-year research and development effort that represents a diverse and ever-growing phage collection. It also includes a curated collection of phages that has greater than 85% activity against over 100 multi-drug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa clinical isolates. These clinical isolates are representative of the global diversity of this pathogen, across respiratory, wound, blood and tissue infections . In a collaborative effort between WRAIR, APT, and other partners, a subset of these phages are also being advanced into clinical trials in CF patients with P. aeruginosa infections.
“We are delighted to secure the support of The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in developing our PhageBank™ technology, to treat constantly evolving bacterial diseases that often become drug resistant,”
said Greg Merril, APT’s CEO and co-founder.
“Now backed with partnerships with two branches of the U.S. Armed Forces, we remain steadfast in our belief that phage therapeutics are the future for treating multi-drug resistant bacterial pathogens and further believe that agreements such as today’s strengthen our ability to treat the millions of patients who are threatened by these fast mutating, drug resistant pathogens.”
“The PhageBankTM platform that Greg and his team at APT are building is helping realize the long-held hope for phage-based therapeutics in treating both civilians and U.S. Service Members facing multi-drug resistant bacterial pathogens,”
said Lieutenant Colonel Brett Swierczewski, Director of Bacterial Diseases at WRAIR.
“We look forward to collaborating with the APT team as they progress PhageBankTM into and through clinical trials.”