Phico Therapeutics raises £1.5 million for clinical trials with its anti-MRSA product
Phico Therapeutics Ltd, an early stage company developing novel antibiotics, has closed a financing round raising over £1.5 million from business angels and institutional investors.
Phico Therapeutics is developing a completely new approach to antibiotics. The technology, known as SASPjectTM, uses an active ingredient called SASP which inactivates bacterial DNA in such a way that it is very difficult for the bacteria to become resistant. The company believes that the technology can be used against almost any individual bacterial species, with its first products aimed at methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Clostridium difficile.
Phico’s first product will be used to eliminate the MRSA bacteria which often live in the nose of healthy humans, thereby reducing the number of MRSA infections. This product is currently in manufacturing, with clinical trials scheduled to commence in September 2007. Phico is concurrently developing an anti-MRSA treatment for intravenous use.
C. difficile is the major cause of infectious diarrhoea in hospitalised patients, and serious cases can require removal of the colon or may even result in death. C. difficile-associated diarrhoea can be very difficult to treat and, in fact, some conventional antibiotics can aggravate this infection since they are indiscriminate and target the natural gut flora leaving a niche for C. difficile to grow. A very important and unique aspect of Phico’s technology is that it can be used to target only the harmful C. difficile bacteria in the gut, leaving the normal flora unharmed. Development of Phico’s oral treatment for this bug is progressing well.
Phico is based at the Babraham Research Campus near Cambridge where it has labs and offices housing a staff of twelve, including ten post-doctoral scientists.
Dr Heather Fairhead, founder and CEO of Phico Therapeutics commented "I am delighted to welcome Phico's new investors and to thank existing investors for their continued support. 2007 will be an important year for Phico with the start of our clinical trial programme, and we expect to make significant progress in developing our pipeline of products with the help of this funding".