Pherecydes Pharma

Positive Preclinical Results for Inhaled Phage Therapy Presented to the Reanimation 2022 Conference

Regulatory News:

Pherecydes Pharma (Paris:ALPHE) (FR0011651694 – ALPHE), a biotechnology company specializing in precision phage therapy to treat resistant and/or complicated bacterial infections, today announces that the results of a preclinical study undertaken with its phages have been presented at the Reanimation 2022 conference organized by the SRLF (Société de Réanimation de Langue Française, the French intensive care society) and held in Paris from June 22 to 24, 2022.

Antoine Guillon, resuscitation doctor at the University Hospital of Tours and researcher at the Centre d'Étude des Pathologies Respiratoires Inserm-University of Tours (UMR1100), presented the results of the study during a Flash Com session entitled “Inhaled bacteriophage therapy in a porcine model of pneumonia caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa during mechanical ventilation”.

The study was carried out within the framework of the Pneumophage project, associating the UMR1100 and the Diffusion Technique Française company, aimed at demonstrating the effectiveness of inhaled phage therapy in treating ventilator-associated infections. To this end, the researchers at the UMR1100 research center for respiratory diseases in Tours developed a porcine model of pneumonia caused by P. aeruginosa incorporating the essential characteristics of the human disease. The work undertaken showed that the use of Pherecydes Pharma’s anti-P. aeruginosa phages significantly reduced the lung bacterial load (1.5-log reduction, p < 0.001).

The results obtained also demonstrate:

• the feasibility of delivering large quantities of active phages by nebulization during mechanical ventilation;
• the rapid control of the infection in situ in a respiratory model close to humans.

This demonstration in a highly translational model paves the way for pulmonary phage therapy, notably in resuscitation units where the occurrence of ventilator-associated P. aeruginosa infections is higher than in other units. The P. aeruginosa bacterium is a major cause of Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia, a pathology with a relapse rate of 40% and a high mortality rate of around 20%.

Didier Hoch, Chairman and CEO of Pherecydes Pharma, said: “We are delighted that the work carried out with our phages has been presented to the scientific community at the Reanimation 2022 conference. These results, obtained in a highly predictable model, demonstrate the considerable beneficial effect of inhaled phages and represent a solid basis for the future clinical development of our anti-Pseudomonas aeruginosa phages. The keen interest this presentation generated in experts reinforces our confidence in our phages’ ability to become a first-choice treatment for certain diseases currently lacking therapeutic solutions in these clinical indications”.