The Phageriarus development project aims to acquire bacteriophage-derived proteins that can act as Immune Regulators and use them to develop phage-based immunotherapeutics
iNtRON's PHAGERIARUS platform is a new approach to Immune & Immunotherapeutics using bacteriophages. (Credit: National Cancer Institute on Unsplash)
iNtRON Biotechnology announced that its Phageriarus platform has identified Prophage and (non-) ORF-Jamphage from the microbiome commonly found in long-term Pancreatic cancer survivors.
The identification was conducted as part of the ongoing PHAGERIARUS development project conducted by the New Drug Part of iNtRON.
iNtRON’s Phageriarus platform is a new approach to Immune & Immunotherapeutics using bacteriophages.
The PHAGERIARUS development project aims to acquire bacteriophage-derived proteins that can act as Immune Regulators (IR).
The project intends to develop phage-based immunotherapeutics that can treat a range of immune disorders including cancer.
In the analysis, the company found the Alkalihalobacillus clausii as a representative microbiome. iNtRON has acquired the strain and verified the existence of Prophage and Jamphage by the genomic study.
The company expects that the Prophage and (non-) ORF-Jamphage present in the strains play a key role as IR modulating the immune system.
As per the analysis findings, a total of seven strains have been found to contain four types of Prophage, three types of ORF-Jamphage, and 12 types of Non-ORF-Jamphage, comprising a total of 531 ORFs.
The results demonstrate that these ORFs generated from Jampage and Prophage are prospective IR candidates.
iNtRON CEO YOON, Kyung-won said: “While most of the existing bacteriophage research and development is focused on bacterial infectious diseases, iNtRON is expanding the application of bacteriophages to include antiviral drug development and also immune-related drug development.”
“This expansion will clearly lead us to significant achievements in ‘First-in-Class’ and ‘First-in-Concept’ drug developments.”
iNtRON said that the Phageriarus development project is built on the research that bacteriophages serve as an essential factor for the survival and growth of bacteria and regulate the immune system.
The project involves comprehensive genomic and functional analysis of disease-associated microbiomes and bacteriophages. It has a goal to study the Mode of Action (MoA) of IR-related proteins derived from bacteriophages.
Through the Phageriarus platform, the biotechnology company has plans to discover the therapeutic advantages of bacteriophages as IR and potent anti-cancer immunotherapies.