AmpliPhi, Intrexon team for bacteriophage projects

AmpliPhi, the US bacteriophage company which acquired Australia’s Special Phage Services last year, has announced an exclusive bacteriophage research collaboration with Intrexon Corporation.

The two companies will jointly seek to develop bacteriophage-based therapies to target certain antibiotic-resistant infections. Researchers based in Sydney will be involved in the collaboration.

The program will include therapies to treat bacterial infections associated with the acute and chronic wounds C. difficile and P. aeruginosa.

Under the terms of the deal, Intrexon will use its technology to help AmpliPhi produce wild type phages and to design and produce genetically modified bacteriophages.

Intrexon will receive shares worth around 26% of AmpliPhi and royalties on sales of any products produced under the collaboration. The company may also be entitled to development milestone payments.

“The global market for anti-infective therapies is expected to reach $40 billion annually by 2014,” AmpliPhi CEO Philip J Young said. “Combining Intrexon’s synthetic biology technologies with our phage development expertise gives us the opportunity to develop and bring to market an important new generation of anti-infective therapies.”

AmpliPhi specialises in developing bacteriophage-based treatments for antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections.