Technology

Phico Therapeutics’ platform, known as SASPject™, is a new concept in antibacterial therapy and could potentially form the basis of a new generation of antibiotics. SASPjectTM combines broad-spectrum anti-bacterial proteins called SASP, or small acid-soluble spore protein(s), with delivery vectors that can each be programmed to target selected bacteria. SASPject™ works by injecting a gene that encodes SASP, directly into the targeted bacteria. The injected gene then produces SASP, which bind to bacterial DNA and inactivate it. Functional DNA is crucial to cell survival. SASP ‘turn off’ DNA so the targeted bacterial cell cannot metabolise or reproduce. The immune system can then remove the bacteria from the body.

Crucially, SASP bind to all bacterial DNA, irrespective of the sequence of that DNA. Spontaneous mutations in DNA, or the import of new DNA that gives new characteristics to the bacterial cell, are key ways in which bacteria develop resistance to antibiotics. Neither of these strategies affects the ability of SASP to bind to and inactivate bacterial DNA.

Because SASP can bind to and inactivate all of the DNA inside bacteria, including plasmid DNA, which is a common source of antibiotic resistance genes, it could actively help to prevent the spread of antibiotic resistance and toxin genes.

This approach has the potential to provide a number of significant advantages over traditional antibiotics:

• The unique mode of action of SASP makes it unlikely that bacteria will be able to develop resistance to this antibacterial protein.


• SASPject™ technology can be used to target any selected bacteria, individual or multiple bacterial species or genera, including those that are multi-antibiotic resistant.


• Unlike conventional antibiotics, SASPject™ has no effect on any bacteria other than those at which it is targeted. Normal skin and gut bacteria ("good bacteria") are unharmed.


• SASPject™ target selectivity prevents the release of toxins and other inflammatory cell components from non-target bacteria thus potentially minimising associated side effects.

The role of Phico's SASPject™ delivery vectors is simply to inject SASP genes into selected target bacteria. For this purpose, Phico modifies a single, fully characterised bacterial virus (bacteriophage) for each type of target bacterium. SASPject™ vectors target only bacterial cells and no other cell type, acting simply as a syringe to inject the SASP gene into the target bacterial cells.

In essence, Phico's technology can be considered 'the lethal delivery for bacteria that’s hard to resist’