Pherecydes Pharma, a biotechnology company specializing in precision phage therapy to treat resistant and/or complicated bacterial infections, today announces that the Israel Patent Office has approved the granting of a patent for its anti-Staphylococcus aureus phages and provides an update on the development schedule for these phages. The patent obtained in Israel is the first patent granted for this family of phages and provides protection through to the end of 2038.
The Staphylococcus aureus program, a bacterium considered a high global priority by the WHO, is the Company’s flagship program. It includes, at this stage, three clinical trials expected to start in the coming months: PhagoDAIR for which Pherecydes Pharma is the sponsor as well as PhagOS and PhagoPied which are financed by Hospital Clinical Research Programs (PHRC) and whose sponsors will be the University Hospital Centres of Bordeaux and Nîmes. In parallel, Pherecydes Pharma plans to make these phages available under AAC early access programs. The AAC and PhagoDAIR applications are currently being reviewed and the Company expects to receive responses by early 2022 and the first quarter of 2022 respectively. The initiation of the PhagoDAIR study is therefore expected during the first quarter of 2022 and that of the PhagOS and PhagoPied studies before the end of the first half of 2022.
Guy-Charles Fanneau de La Horie, Chairman of the Executive Board of Pherecydes Pharma, said: “We are very pleased to be continuing to strengthen our intellectual property. Following the patents granted in numerous jurisdictions for our anti-Pseudomonas aeruginosa and anti-Escherichia Coli phages, this first patent for our anti-Staphylococcus aureus phages further enhances our arsenal of protection covering the phages we are currently developing. This approach is part of our continuous efforts to protect our investments in our winning phages and the aggressive stance we have adopted in the promising therapeutic field of precision phage therapy. This first step reaffirms the intellectual property strategy implemented by the Company over recent years and will support the development of these assets in the coming months. All this is also taking place in an environment where the demand for compassionate treatments continues to be strong with 38 patients treated as of November 15, 2021 (including 24 patients with Staphylococcus aureus infection), i.e. 15 new patients treated in the first eleven months of 2021”.
Pherecydes Pharma has an active portfolio of four patents, each covering multiple phages and their variants against the target bacteria: Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia Coli. While some patents are still pending, others have already been granted in major jurisdictions such as the United States, Europe, Japan, Australia, Hong Kong and Israel.