News 12th Jan 2005
Phico Therapeutics has expanded....
Phico Therapeutics, based at the Babraham Research Campus, has expanded.
Following a recent fundraising of almost £750,000 the company
has recruited three more laboratory staff, including a post-doctoral
researcher, and an administrator. This has brought the number of
staff to eight, including five post-docs.
Phico Therapeutics was founded by Dr Heather Fairhead and Cambridge
Research and Innovation Ltd at the end of 2000 to develop a completely
new approach to antibiotics. The technology, known as
SASPjectTM,
is based on a unique protein that targets and inactivates bacterial
DNA. Modified bacterial viruses, called bacteriophages, are used
to deliver the gene encoding this protein to specific harmful bacteria.
Bacteriophages can only target bacteria and act like a hypodermic
syringe to inject the gene into target bacteria where the lethal
protein is produced.
Phico has developed a topical SASPjectTM treatment to reduce carriage
of the superbug, MRSA, in humans. MRSA, or
methicillin
resistantStaphylococcus aureus ,
often lives harmlessly
in and around the nose of healthy people. However, it can cause
a wide range of infections from the trivial to the life threatening,
including wound infections and bacteraemia. It has been demonstrated
that reducing the number of MRSA bacteria living on the skin can
subsequently lead to a reduction in the number of infections. Phico
is also developing an anti-MRSA treatment for intravenous use.
The company plans to start clinical trials in humans in 2005.
Phico has also increased its rented accommodation, taking on another
laboratory for production, and development work on its next bacterial
target, Clostridium difficile. This bacterium is now recognised
as the major cause of infectious diarrhoea in hospitals and nursing
homes. It can cause a range of symptoms from severe diarrhoea to
pseudomembranous colitis which can result in intestinal perforation
and death. Development of the C. difficile targeted SASPjectTM
system is part-funded by a DTI Research and Development grant.