BALTIMORE, MD, USA I June 17, 2019 I Intralytix, Inc., announced today that is has entered into a joint collaboration agreement with the Eliava Foundation and Ferring Pharmaceuticals to develop and commercialize new and innovative bacteriophage-based drugs in the field of Reproductive Medicine and Women’s Health. The collaboration expands on a growing global focus on the development of microbiome- and bacteriophage-based technologies to address unmet medical needs in different healthcare arenas.

Alexander Sulakvelidze, Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of Intralytix, commented: “We are pleased to start this collaboration with the Eliava Foundation and Ferring Pharmaceuticals and to engage in the development of novel bacteriophage-based products for promoting women’s health through modulation of the vaginal microbiome.  This alliance is the first step in our investigation of a series of potential bacteriophage-based solutions to help manage many women’s health-associated indications.”

“We are thrilled to extend our existing collaboration network in the field of Bacteriophage Therapy and to engage the Eliava Foundation together with Intralytix for developing bacteriophage-based treatments in the field of Reproductive Medicine and Women’s Health,” remarked Mirjam Mol-Arts, Senior Vice President of Global Development at Ferring Pharmaceuticals.  “Ferring is committed to advancing research in the microbiome area with the ultimate goal of generating medicines that can potentially deliver significant benefits in other therapeutic areas, outside of our established expertise and interest in gastroenterology. We are excited at the prospect of what we will be able to jointly achieve and the impact it may have on the patients who could benefit most from these potential treatments,” she added. 

Mzia Kutateladze, President of the Eliava Foundation and Director of the Eliava Institute of Bacteriophages, Microbiology and Virology (IBMV), remarked: “Our Foundation and Institute have been involved in therapeutic phage research and development for almost one hundred years, and we look forward to joining efforts with Intralytix and Ferring to advance this technology under Western medical standards. I believe that this partnership will significantly enhance and expedite product development and will ultimately benefit hundreds of thousands of women worldwide.

About Eliava Foundation

Eliava Foundation is a non-for-profit organization founded by the scientists of the Eliava Institute of Bacteriophages, Microbiology and Virology (IBMV), located in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia. The goal of the Foundation is to develop a broad range of products and applications (using bacteriophages identified and studied by the Eliava Institute scientists) for a variety of human, animal, plant and environmental applications.  To learn more about the Eliava Foundation and Eliava Institute please visit http://eliava-institute.org/

About Ferring Pharmaceuticals

Ferring Pharmaceuticals is a privately owned, international pharmaceutical company headquartered in St. Prex, Switzerland.  The Company specializes in the research, development and commercialization of compounds in general and pediatric endocrinology, gastroenterology, infertility, obstetrics/gynecology, orthopedics, and urology. To learn more about Ferring Pharmaceuticals or its products please visit http://ferring.com/en/home/

About Intralytix, Inc.

Intralytix, Inc. is a privately held company headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.  The company is the world’s leader in bacteriophage technology and was the first company in the world to receive FDA-approval for a phage-based product for food safety applications.  Intralytix currently has the world’s largest portfolio of FDA-approved phage-based products in commercial markets.  The Company is currently running a clinical trial at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, for which it is the Sponsor and IND-holder (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03808103?term=Intralytix&rank=1).  To learn more about Intralytix or its products please visit www.intralytix.com

SOURCE: Intralytix