Beyond Biotech - the podcast from Labiotech

5:33 e-therapeutics21:25 BioWin 32:46 CMT Research Foundation57:47 JLLThis week, we have three interviews, and four guests. We chatted with Keith Fargo, chief scientific officer at the CMT Research Foundation; François Colery, head of the Talent Now initiative and Sylvie Ponchaut, managing director, from BioWin; and e-therapeutics’ CEO, Ali Mortazavi. We also have our weekly contribution from global commercial real estate services company JLL, with Robert Coughlin, managing director and New England Life Science Practice Group lead. CMT Research Foundation supports SamsaraThe CMT Research Foundation (CMTRF), a non-profit focused solely on delivering treatments and cures for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, has invested in Samsara Therapeutics Inc.Samsara Therapeutics is a biotech company developing several novel, orally active autophagy enhancers and demonstrated they can rescue CMT1A neuropathy in mice in a dose-dependent manner.The partnership with Samsara Therapeutics is CMTRF’s largest investment to date and is dedicated toward a project to further optimize pipeline autophagy compounds that may eventually become a treatment option for CMT patients.  About Charcot-Marie-ToothCharcot-Marie-Tooth is a group of inherited, chronic peripheral neuropathies that result in nerve degradation. CMT patients suffer from progressive muscle atrophy of legs and arms causing walking, running and balance problems and abnormal hand and foot functioning. CMT affects one in 2,500 people (about the same prevalence as multiple sclerosis). At the moment, there is no treatment or cure for CMT.BioWin helping ease job issuesBioWin, the health cluster of Wallonia in Belgium, has a Talent Now program which aims to tackle the recruitment challenges in the biotech and medtech industry in Belgium. With the support of Walloon government and private companies (GSK, Janssen, Takeda, etc.), Talent Now is based on a study performed by BioWin that showed potential of close to 1,000 recruitments per year in biomanufacturing and R&D activities in Wallonia.The Talent Now public-private consortium will pave the way for a EU Biotech Campus, set to open in Gosselies in 2025.  e-therapeutics completes £13.5M fundraisee-therapeutics plc, a company integrating computational power and biological data to discover life-transforming RNAi medicines, recently announced a fundraise of £13.5 million before expenses by way of a subscription for new ordinary shares.The fundraise allows the company to generate value and accelerate the next stage of its growth, advancing its position in creating an entirely new template for drug discovery using computation to capture and model disease complexity, identify novel targets and design RNAi drugs against those targets that can be rapidly progressed to the clinic. The net proceeds of the Subscription will be used to facilitate initiatives to accelerate growth, with a focus on expanding the Company’s in-house pipeline of first-in-class RNAi candidates derived from ETX’s computational platform; further developing cell type-specific computational tools and datasets; and general working capital including additional headcount.SponsorInterested in sponsoring one or more episodes of the podcast? Learn more here!Leave a review on Apple podcastsReviews are hugely important because they help new people discover this podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, we would love to hear your feedback!Connect with uslabiotech.euSubscribe to our newsletter

2:22 Labiotech.eu news4:53 TAU Systems21:54 Bone Health Technologies 33:26 Immutep44:36 JLLThis week, we have conversations with Marc Voigt, CEO of Immutep; Manuel Hegelich, CEO of TAU Systems; and ​​Laura Yecies, CEO of Bone Health Technologies. We also have our weekly chat with global commercial real estate services company JLL, with Travis McCready. FDA fast tracks Immutep non-small cell lung cancer candidateImmutep Limited says the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted fast track designation to eftilagimod alpha (efti or IMP321) in combination with pembrolizumab for the treatment of first line non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).Efti is the company’s first-in-class soluble LAG-3 clinical stage candidate, which activates antigen presenting cells (APC) to engage both the innate and adaptive immune system to target solid tumors.The designation has been granted for the development of efti in combination with pembrolizumab in first line treatment of stage IIIB/IV NSCLC patients expressing PD-L1 tumor proportion score greater than or equal to 1%, not amenable to EGFR/ALK based therapy. The designation is based on the TACTI-002/KEYNOTE-798 phase II clinical data in first line NSCLC for PD-L1 all-comers.This represents the second fast track designation for efti, following the same designation in April 2021 for efti in combination with pembrolizumab in first line treatment of recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. TAU Systems to build new generation of compact particle accelerators after $15M investmentTAU Systems has raised $15 million in seed investment to bring particle accelerators to a multitude of users by harnessing the latest laser technology to make electrons surf on three-dimensional plasma waves and accelerate them to ultra-high energies.The news is significant as, until now, high-energy particle accelerators have been limited to countries and governmental organizations. Due to their huge size and high cost, access for engineers and biotech professionals is severely limited. The laser-driven particle accelerators and X-ray free-electron lasers (XFEL) developed by TAU Systems will give access to a world of ultra-small objects evolving ultra-fast under ultra-powerful conditions – TAU's team calls it the Ultraverse.TAU Systems said it will offer beamtime, data acquisition and analysis as a full-service supplier as well as complete laser-driven accelerators and XFEL systems for sale, to, for example, pharma and biotech, battery and solar technology, and other material-science driven markets. Bone Health Technologies at ASBMR 2022The American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) annual meeting was held recently in Texas.The ASBMR is a professional, scientific and medical society established to bring together clinical and experimental scientists who are involved in the study of bone and mineral metabolism.One of the companies attending was Bone Health Technologies, a San Francisco-based company that applies science and medical expertise to create better health outcomes for women and men at risk of developing osteoporosis and the associated bone fractures.  The company has created OsteoBoost, the first vibration belt specifically designed to treat osteopenia and prevent osteoporosis.Initially created in the med-tech incubator TheraNova, Bone Health Technologies is poised to become the new standard of care in treating both osteoporosis and osteopenia (the precursor to osteoporosis). SponsorInter

2:08 Labiotech.eu news4:42 Faron Pharmaceuticals15:22 BiotechX20:13 Cultivated Biosciences26:26 EPFLThis week, we have four interviews. Our guests are: Juho Jalkanen, COO of Faron Pharmaceuticals; Ardemis Boghossian and Melania Reggente from the EPFL School of Basic Sciences in Switzerland; Tomas Turner, CEO and co-founder of Cultivated Biosciences; and Joanna Magaji, conference manager for the BiotechX event. BiotechX event taking place in Basel in NovemberBiotechX, an event staged by Terrapinn, is set to open its doors next month.From November 8 to 10, more than 2,000 attendees will head to the Basel Congress Center in Basel, Switzerland, to network, see more than 150 exhibitors, and have a choice of presentations from upwards of 400 speakers. BioTechX is Europe’s largest event covering diagnostics, precision medicine and digital transformation in pharmaceutical development and healthcare.Could combining biotech and photosynthetic bacteria help the energy crisis? A group of researchers in Switzerland is using photosynthetic bacteria to generate energy.After implanting nanotubes into them, the bacteria can create energy. And when the cells divide, those nanotubes stay with subsequent generations. While there’s a long way to go, and many questions to be answered, Ardemis Boghossian at EPFL’s School of Basic Sciences in Switzerland is looking to a potential future where bacteria generate electricity. Faron Pharmaceuticals’ Traumakine data shows promise for militaryFaron Pharmaceuticals Ltd says data from its preclinical salvage, preservation, and advanced resuscitation through endothelial stabilization (SPARES) study was presented at the Military Health System Research Symposium (MHSRS) in Orlando, Florida. The SPARES study was a preclinical study, conducted on non-human primates (a representative model for humans), to understand the potential effects of Traumakine, Faron’s investigational intravenous interferon beta-1a therapy, on limb salvage and preventing multiple organ dysfunction in prolonged field care scenarios where blood flow to a significantly wounded limb is closed for rescue and transportation. Biosciences raises $1.5M to take fats to next frontierCultivated Biosciences, an ingredient startup biotech company founded by Swiss entrepreneurs Tomas Turner and Dimitri Zogg, has just raised a $1.5M pre-seed round. The funding will enable the growing team to further optimize its production processes, research food applications and start product development of its creamy ingredient for dairy alternatives from non-GMO yeast with their first clients.SponsorInterested in sponsoring one or more episodes of the podcast? Learn more here!Leave a review on Apple podcastsReviews are hugely important because they help new people discover this podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, we would love to hear your feedback!Connect with uslabiotech.euSubscribe to our newsletter

2:09 Labiotech.eu news4:16 BIO-Europe (biosaxony)13:54 BIO-Europe (EBD Group EU)28:25 National Hemophilia Foundation44:40 JLLThis week, we have three interviews. Our guests are: Pam Putz, managing director of EBD Group EU; André Hofmann, CEO of biosaxony; and Kevin Mills, chief scientific officer at the National Hemophilia Foundation and Teri Willey, managing director of the National Hemophilia Foundation’s Pathway to Cures. We also have our weekly chat with global commercial real estate services company JLL, with Travis McCready. BIO-Europe set to start in LeipzigBIO-Europe is returning with a three day in-person event, followed by a three-day virtual option.Taking place at the Leipzig Messe in Leipzig, Germany, from October 24 to 26, there is also an option for those who can’t make it to attend virtually from November 2 to 4.BIO-Europe includes exhibitors, face-to-face partnering meetings, presentations, and a start-up spotlight. More than 4,000 attendees are expected in Germany, with more than 2,200 companies from 60 countries represented. More than 27,000 partnering meetings are anticipated over the three days.For more details on attending BIO-Europe, click here. There is still an option to attend and save €200 by booking before October 14.National Hemophilia Foundation launches research fundThe National Hemophilia Foundation (NHF) in the U.S. has announced the launch of Pathway to Cures (P2C), a new venture philanthropy investment fund focused on creating transformational impact across all inheritable blood disorders. Investing alongside and partnering with traditional private capital funds and other industry organizations, P2C hopes to spur the development of inheritable blood disorder therapies, treatments, and technologies, changing the lives of the inheritable blood disorders community. P2C is being launched as an open-ended fund with an initial $3.5 million commitment from the NHF as it begins fundraising and partnership outreach to raise $20 million over the next several years as it invests in companies that demonstrate significant potential for transformational impact for the inheritable blood disorders community.SponsorInterested in sponsoring one or more episodes of the podcast? Learn more here!Leave a review on Apple podcastsReviews are hugely important because they help new people discover this podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, we would love to hear your feedback!Connect with uslabiotech.euSubscribe to our newsletter

3:00 News5:04 Omnio14:01 Adocia24:28 Tridek-One29:49 Phenomix Sciences47:27 JLLThis week, we have four guests: Olivier Soula, deputy-CEO and director of R&D at Adocia; Ulrika Norin, CEO of Omnio; Mark Bagnall, CEO of Phenomix Sciences; and Laurence de Schoulepnikoff, CEO of Tridek-One.We also have our weekly chat with global commercial real estate services company JLL, with Travis McCready. This week’s podcast is sponsored by Labforward.Adocia takes steps with implants to treat type 1 diabetesFrench biopharma company Adocia has established a first proof of concept for its AdoShell Islets implant by achieving glycemic control without insulin injections in immunocompetent diabetic rats during the 132-day study.AdoShell Islets is an immuno-protective synthetic biomaterial containing islets of Langerhans. After implantation in diabetic animals, the islets encapsulated in AdoShell secrete insulin in response to blood glucose levels. The physical barrier formed by the AdoShell biomaterial allows the implanted cells to be invisible to the host’s immune system while allowing the necessary physiological exchanges to occur for the survival and function of the islets.Phenomix Sciences’ precision obesity biobanking registry and outcomes studyPhenomix Sciences, a precision obesity biotechnology company,has launched a biobanking registry and outcomes study. The registry will evaluate variability in obesity treatment response by collecting patients’ DNA, metabolomics, hormones, and behavioral assessments, in relation to treatment outcomes. The data collected will supplement the 20 billion data points in the Phenomix Sciences Obesity Platform. Mayo Clinic is the first to enroll in the registry and is expected to contribute outcomes from 2,000 patients undergoing obesity treatment.  Outcomes data from biobanks across the registry will supplement Phenomix’s database of biological and clinical data matched to the four obesity phenotypes.  Insights from the database are being used to develop the company’s first therapy selection test, the first of its kind in the obesity space.Tridek-One closes €16M funding round Tridek-One SAS, a French biotech startup specialized in the research and development of CD31 agonists to restore immune balance, recently closed a €16 million ($16.1 million) new financing round.The funds will primarily be used to identify development candidates against auto-immunediseases, to conduct IND-enabling studies and to further build the organization. The company previously raised €3 million in a first round in 2019.Omnio receives funding for plasminogen to treat chronic woundsSwedish company Omnio AB has shown plasminogen is a pro-inflammatory regulator of inflammation that can be used to treat chronic wounds with dysfunctional inflammation.The Umeå-based company, a spin off from Umeå University, said the drug could mean a global treatment revolution for wounds that never heal. The most problematic are diabetic ulcers, venous ulcers, and pressure ulcers. Omnio recently received a capital injection of €1.5 million from its shareholders. SponsorInterested in sponsoring one or more episodes of the podcast? Learn more here

02:17 Labiotech.eu news04:59 TikoMed09:20 Pleco Therapeutics25:45 Cullinan Oncology/World Cancer Research Day44:15 JLLThis week’s podcast has three guests. In honor of World Cancer Research Day on September 24, we have an overview of cancer research with Nadim Ahmed, CEO of Cullinan Oncology; a chat with Ivo Timmermans, CEO of Pleco Therapeutics; and talk with Anders Kristensson, CEO of TikoMed.We also have our weekly chat with global commercial real estate services company JLL, with Travis McCready. This week’s podcast is sponsored by Single Use Support, the end-to-end process solution provider for fluid management.World Cancer Research Day: Support research to prevent cancer and catch it earlyFor seven consecutive years, the international research community is marking World Cancer Research Day (WCRD) on September 24, a global movement that seeks to raise awareness of the importance of cancer research to increase survival, facilitate access to scientific advances worldwide and reduce the global burden of cancer. This year, experts in the field of oncology and cancer researchers will focus on cancer health disparities, particularly in the areas of prevention and early detection research and care. The motto this year is Support research to prevent cancer and catch it early.Cullinan OncologyTo talk about the current state of cancer research, we spoke with Nadim Ahmed, CEO of Cullinan Oncology.Cullinan Oncology is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to creating new standards of care for patients with cancer. It finds the most promising clinic-ready cancer therapies through its own discovery efforts and engagement with academic and industry partners. Pleco Therapeutics raises €17.3M to develop AML productPleco Therapeutics BV, a specialty biopharma company in the Netherlands developing novel treatments designed to detoxify the cancer micro-environment has raised total funds of $17.2 million in series A financing. The funds will be used to complete development of, and to commercialize, the company’s novel lead Plecoid product, PTX-061, to improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy in patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).Pleco’s technology provides a platform for the development of a pipeline of therapies. In addition to PTX-061 for AML, the current pipeline includes additional candidates in preclinical testing for the treatment of other rare diseases such as SCLC.Research shows TikoMed’s ILB can treat neurodegenerative diseases including ALSPeer-review research published in Frontiers in Pharmacology supports the broad spectrum mechanism of action of Swedish biopharma company TikoMed’s ILB neuroprotective drug platform. In multiple preclinical and clinical studies across a variety of neuroinflammation-driven diseases, the low molecular weight dextran sulfate compound both mobilized and modulated naturally occurring tissue repair mechanisms and restored cellular homeostasis and function by releasing heparin-binding growth factors. SponsorInterested in sponsoring one or more episodes of the podcast? Learn more here!Leave a review on Apple podcastsReviews are hugely important because they help new people discover this podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, we would love to hear your feedback!Connect with uslabiotech.euSubscribe to our newsletter

2:56 News5:42 NLS Days - overview17:42 NLS Days - NLSInvest29:35 NLS Days - AstraZeneca42:13 JLLBeyond Biotech Podcast 14: Nordic Life Science Days 2022This week’s podcast is dedicated to Nordic Life Science Days, otherwise known as NLS Days. This year’s version is an in-person event from September 28-29, at the Malmömässan in Malmö, Sweden.In our preview of NLS Days, which features sessions and fireside chats, company presentations, an exhibition, and one-on-one partnering meetings, we have interviews with managing director of NLSDays, Olivier Duchamp-Giudicelli; Chelsea Ranger, senior advisor, SwedenBIO and chair of NLSInvest; and Magnus Björsne, CEO of AstraZeneca’s BioVentureHub.We also have our weekly chat with global commercial real estate services company JLL, with Travis McCready. NLS Days back in personAfter pandemic disruption, NLS Days is returning to an in-person event in Malmö. It is the largest Nordic partnering conference of its kind, and welcomes participants from not only the Nordic countries of Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland, but also from around the world. NLSDays attracts leading decision makers from biotech, pharma and medtech as well as finance, research, policy and regulatory authorities. Startups and early-phase clinical projects can find new investors, established businesses can find commercial partners for expansion, and global pharmaceutical and biotech companies can evaluate new and promising investment opportunities across the region.The event also features NLSInvest, a pitching contest where 40 regional companies will compete over the two-days. While the event traditionally rotates between Stockholm and Malmö, for its 10th anniversary in 2023 it will be held in Copenhagen at the Bella Centre.SponsorInterested in sponsoring one or more episodes of the podcast? Learn more here!Leave a review on Apple podcastsReviews are hugely important because they help new people discover this podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, we would love to hear your feedback!Connect with uslabiotech.euSubscribe to our newsletter 

2:32 Labiotech.eu news4:45 BioInnovation Institute20:18 IASP37:38 JLLThis week’s guests on the podcast are Bobby Soni, chief business officer at the BioInnovation Institute, and Harriet Edwards, International Association of Science Parks (IASP) media and community manager.We also have our weekly chat with global commercial real estate services company JLL, and this week it is with Travis McCready. IASP to host World Conference on Science ParksThe 39th IASP World Conference on Science Parks and Areas of Innovation is set to take place in Seville, Spain, from September 27 to 30. This year’s theme is Green and digital change powered by innovation: The role of innovation ecosystems. The IASP is active in 77 countries, and has more than 350 members. Its mission is to be the global network for science parks and areas of innovation, and to drive growth, internationalization and effectiveness for members.It coordinates an active network of managers of science/technology/research parks, innovation districts and other areas of innovation, as well as enhancing new business opportunities for members and their companies.More companies enter BioInnovation Institute Venture Lab programNine ventures and two projects have become the latest addition to The BioInnovation Institute’s (BII) Venture Lab acceleration program for early-stage companies. BII is an international commercial non-profit foundation based in Denmark, which incubates and accelerates life science research.The cohort consists of nine ventures plus two corporate-sponsored innovation projects from Novo Nordisk – all strategically aligned with BII’s focus on developing scientific initiatives for the benefit of human and planetary health. Designed to help build research-based ideas with high-growth commercial potential into viable start-ups, BII’s 12-month Venture Lab program supports business acceleration, scientific and team development, and provides a risk-free convertible loan of €500,000 ($496,700) plus access to labs and offices at BII’s entrepreneurial ecosystem in the center of Copenhagen. In becoming a part of the Venture Lab program, the early-stage companies also get an opportunity to apply for an add-on opportunity of up to €1.3 million ($1.3 million) through BII’s new Venture House program.SponsorInterested in sponsoring one or more episodes of the podcast? Learn more here!Leave a review on Apple podcastsReviews are hugely important because they help new people discover this podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, we would love to hear your feedback!Connect with uslabiotech.euSubscribe to our newsletter 

2:48 Labiotech.eu news5:22 Gate Neurosciences16:18 3Brain31:13 Oncolyze50:22 JLLThis week’s podcast guests are Mike McCully, CEO of Gate Neurosciences; Steven Evans, CEO and co-founder of Oncolyze; and Philipp Markolin, scientific marketing specialist at 3Brain.We also have our weekly chat with global commercial real estate services company JLL, and this week it’s a chat with  Amber Schiada, head of life sciences research in the Americas for the company.Gate launches to develop CNS treatmentsGate Neurosciences has officially launched to develop its next-generation therapeutics addressing synaptic dysfunction in patients suffering from central nervous system (CNS) disorders.Gate, a U.S. biotech company, was founded in 2019 by a team of neuroscience industry veterans to address the need for more effective treatments for CNS disorders, and to overcome long-standing challenges in CNS drug development. Since its founding, the company has acquired a portfolio of next-generation compounds from large pharma, along with corresponding data from thousands of patients dosed across numerous clinical trials that will inform and de-risk future development.Oncolyze set for AML clinical trialsAfter successfully completing in vitro and in vivo experiments, which support the notion that its lead drug candidate OM-301 breaks down cancer cells and increases survival rates, Oncolyze now has its sights set on advancing OM-301 into clinical trials.Oncolyze has designed a novel anti-cancer drug (OM-301) that targets a particular cell surface protein. This protein, HDM2, is known to exist at high levels inside cancer cells and is thought to be an important driver of cancer growth and metastasis. More recently, though, it was discovered that HDM2 is also found on the cell surface of many types of cancer cells, but not normal cells. 3D microchip gives insights into human brainA microchip that allows scientists to study the complexity of 3D cellular networks at unrivaled scale and precision has been added to 3Brain AG’s brain-on-chip portfolio.In collaboration with Swiss precision manufacturing experts, CSEM, 3Brain AG made the announcement last month.The cell-electronic interface technology will also allow scientists to gain novel mechanistic insights into the inner workings of the most complex structure in the universe, the human brain.SponsorInterested in sponsoring one or more episodes of the podcast? Learn more here!Leave a review on Apple podcastsReviews are hugely important because they help new people discover this podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, we would love to hear your feedback!Connect with uslabiotech.euSubscribe to our newsletter 

2:15 Labiotech.eu news5:12 Phase Genomics16:44 IRB Barcelona29:37 Ilya Pharma43:00 Krystal Biotech53:54   JLLOur guests are Ilya Pharma CEO and co-founder Evelina Vågesjö and chief financial officer Oskar Lund; Miguel Martín-Álvarez, postdoctoral fellow in the cancer science unit at IRB Barcelona; Hubert Chen, head of clinical development at Krystal Biotech; and Ivan Liachko, CEO of Phase Genomics.We also have a new weekly addition, as JLL will be joining us with a look at financial news. This week, we’re joined by Robert Coughlin, JLL managing director and New England Life Science Practice Group lead.Study says gene editing with CRISPR/Cas9 can lead to cell toxicity and genome instabilityCRISPR allows the introduction of a desired DNA sequence into (virtually) any spot of the genome, thus modifying or inactivating a gene. The technique is widely used in biomedical research and some CRISPR-based therapies are in clinical trials for the treatment of human blood disorders, some types of cancer and HIV.Scientists at IRB Barcelona, led by ICREA researcher Fran Supek, have now reported that, depending on the targeted spot of the human genome, CRISPR gene editing can give rise to cell toxicity and genomic instability. Ilya Pharma finalizes global patent coverage for modified lactic acid bacteria to treat wounds Ilya Pharma, a Swedish clinical stage biopharma company focused on delivering local immunotherapies to patients, has announced the issue of four new patents.These are: one in India, and continuation patents in China, Australia and the U.S. This means the company’s method for using modified bacteria for treatment of both mucosal and cutaneous wounds in humans and animals has patent protection in all major markets.Ilya is currently developing a portfolio of three first-in-class immunotherapies for skin and mucosal diseases, including ILP100-Topical for treatment surgical wounds in diabetic, prediabetic and obese patients especially at risk, ILP100-Topical for diabetic ulcers and ILP100-Oral for patients with immune mediated enterocolitis resulting from cancer treatment with checkpoint inhibitors.Krystal Biotech gets green light for cystic fibrosis trialU.S. company Krystal Biotech is set to start a clinical trial for cystic fibrosis after the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted its investigational new drug (IND) application.The gene therapy company will be evaluating KB407, a modified HSV-1 vector carrying two copies of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene to the respiratory cells in the lungs. By inducing expression of full length, normal CFTR protein in the lung, treatment with KB407 has the potential to restore ion and water flow into and out of lung cells to correct the lung manifestations of the disease in patients regardless of their underlying genetic mutation.Phase Genomics using ProxiMeta for phage-bacteria interactionsPhase Genomics, Inc., a developer of proximity ligation-based genomic solutions, recently received $5.5M in combined non-dilutive funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. With the new funding, Phase Genomics will leverage its phage-bacteria interactome repository to power the development of an  AI-driven predictive engine for therapeutic phage discovery.The new financing will allow the company to harness its proximity-guided metagenomics platform, ProxiMeta, to develop the world’s largest atlas of phage-bacteria interactions and use machine learning tools to identify phages that can be used in therapeutic settings such as C. difficile infections, ulcerative colitis, and Crohn’s disease. <