Spanish startup Pulmobiotics, a spinout from the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), has published preclinical results in Nature Biotechnology demonstrating that the company’s live biotherapeutic reduced drug-resistant P. aeruginosa lung infections in a mouse model. According to Pulmobiotics, inoculation with the modified Mycoplasma pneumoniae doubled the survival rate of mice with acute P. aeruginosa lung infections at 8 days post treatment from 25% to 50%, with no evidence of toxicity. The article also describes the ability of the genetically engineered live M. pneumoniae to dissolve biofilms found on endotracheal tubes used for patients who have ventilator-associated pneumonia.
Pulmobiotics is developing the biotherapeutic for delivery by nebulization, either alone or in conjunction with antibiotics. The company said that the use of its platform for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has received funding as a potential breakthrough technology by the European Innovation Council, and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation’s “Public-Private Collaboration Projects” has provided funding to a consortium including Pulmobiotics, the CRG, and the Institute for Research in Biomedicine for development of treatments for severe asthma.
Pulmobiotics Chief Scientific Officer María Lluch said, “We have developed a battering ram that lays siege to antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The treatment punches holes in their cell walls, providing crucial entry points for antibiotics to invade and clear infections at their source. This new treatment approach is working as intended, and, importantly, demonstrates strong activity against the difficult-to-penetrate bacterial biofilms. We believe these data represent a promising new strategy to address a leading cause of mortality in hospitals.”
CEO Claudio Santos commented, “Today’s publication is an exciting milestone for our company as it demonstrates the potential power of our live biotherapeutic platform in difficult-to-treat infectious diseases, as well as strong support for our belief that this approach can be applied to treat other serious lung diseases requiring continuous local delivery of a treatment. We will continue to leverage our synthetic biology and microbiology engineering expertise to develop additional pipeline programs that address unmet clinical needs. Our recent funding awards from the European Union and Spanish government to advance treatments for additional lung diseases including NSCLC and asthma provide validation for this new modality and potential benefit for patients.”
Read the Pulmobiotics press release.
Read the Nature Biotechnology article.
