GAITHERSBURG, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Adaptive Phage Therapeutics, Inc. (APT), a clinical-stage biotechnology company founded to provide an effective therapeutic response to the global rise of multi-drug resistant (MDR) pathogenic bacteria, today announced that the company has been selected to participate in the Accelerate Program at the Startup Grind Global 2020 Conference, taking place in Silicon Valley from February 11 - 12.

APT is one of just 54 companies selected from 4,000 total applicants from 133 countries based on how they fared across a variety of criteria, including unique market insight, traction/product potential, market size/potential, founding team experience, competitive moats (e.g. network, patents, etc.), market timing and other criteria.

“I am proud to present the significant market opportunity that our personalized phage-based therapy represents as a solution to the current antibiotic resistance crisis,” said Greg Merril, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of APT. “The World Health Organization reports that 35 percent of common human infections already are resistant to currently available medicines in some high-income countries, which will result in an estimated 1 – 3 percent indirect decrease in global economic output within the next ten years. Since antimicrobial resistance evolves, our adaptive phage therapy has emerged as the leading alternative when antibiotics have failed.”

Greg Merril was selected to speak on the main stage at the conference at 11:45 a.m.

APT’s participation at the conference is sponsored by the Maryland Department of Commerce, which selected the company as a high-potential, innovative start-up and one of eight companies representing the state. Additionally, the company will staff an exhibit booth on Tuesday, February 11. In its tenth year, Startup Grind brings together more than 10,000 attendees from around the globe.

In 2017, APT acquired the world-wide exclusive commercial rights to PhageBank™, a carefully screened and purified broad-spectrum library of phage, from the biodefense program of the U.S. Navy, as authorized by NMRC. Phages are viruses that eradicate targeted bacteria – including strains that are resistant to antibiotics. PhageBank phages are matched in vitro, on a patient-specific basis, to a targeted pathogen. APT is advancing the technology through innovation in bioinformatics, rapid phage-bacteria matching and phage purification methods – that could result in an approach capable of providing a precision-matched therapy instantly upon the diagnosis of a drug-resistant pathogen. Over time, PhageBank has been shown to increase in spectrum of coverage, negating the effects of bacterial resistance that increasingly diminish the effectiveness of antibiotics.

In response to ongoing urgent requests from patients with severe infections due to multi-drug resistant pathogens, APT has provided and continues to provide its investigational PhageBank therapy under the FDA’s emergency Investigational New Drug allowance. Phage therapy for the first 13 of these cases that were infected with either one or more MDR bacterial species were published in the July, 2019, issue of the Journal of Intensive and Critical Care Medicine. The article is titled “A Case Series of Emergency Investigational New Drug Applications for Bacteriophages Treating Recalcitrant Multi-drug Resistant Bacterial Infections: Confirmed Safety and a Signal of Efficacy.”

APT recently announced it has been awarded a contract of $10.2 million by the Department of Defense (DoD) for the development of PhageBank for the treatment of bacterial infections. Late last year, the company closed an oversubscribed, non-brokered financing, raising approximately $7 million in proceeds. The company estimates a market in excess of $4 billion for its first four planned indications.

About Phages

Phage therapy was first explored as a potential treatment for bacterial infections in the 1920s, but development was put aside with the advent of antibiotics. Phages are naturally occurring bacterial viruses. There are an estimated 10 phage for each bacteria on earth, and each evolved to eradicate a narrow host range of bacteria. With the growing bacterial resistance to antibiotics, there has been renewed interest in phage therapy. Recent scientific advances have enabled bacteria-specific isolation and matching of phage, resulting in a potential fast-acting, cost-effective therapeutic option for multi-drug resistant infections. In nature, phages continue to co-evolve with bacteria, enabling a broad and continually updated universe of potential options for patients with multi-drug resistant infections.

About Adaptive Phage Therapeutics

Adaptive Phage Therapeutics, Inc. (APT) is a clinical-stage company founded to provide an effective therapeutic response to the global rise of multi-drug resistant (MDR) pathogenic bacteria. APT’s core asset is a large and continually expanding phage library (PhageBank™) deployed with a companion diagnostic to achieve rapid response and cost-effective therapy for otherwise recalcitrant bacterial infections. The technology was developed by the biodefense program of U.S. Department of Defense. APT acquired the world-wide exclusive commercial rights in 2017. Under the FDA emergency Investigational New Drug (eIND) allowance, APT has provided investigational PhageBank therapy to treat more than 20 critically ill patients in which standard-of-care antibiotics has failed. For more information, visit http://www.aphage.com.

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