OSPT awarded a new Collaborative Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst grant

Oxford Silk Phage Technology’s (OSPT) team is delighted to announce that it has been awarded its second highly competitive Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst grant, this time in collaboration with the University of Exeter and the University of Hertfordshire.

OSPT and its collaborators will receive a total of ￡1,991,522 in non-dilutive funding from Innovate UK, to accelerate the pre-clinical development of OSPT’s first product, ultimately allowing its advancement into clinical trials and reducing patients’ risk of surgical site infections.

OSPT will this time join forces with the internationally renowned bacteriophage expert groups of Prof Ben Temperton (University of Exeter) and Dr Shan Goh (University of Hertfordshire), to broaden its range of clinically relevant bacteriophages and work towards more cost-effective phage GMP production. Dr Liam McAuley (University of Hertfordshire) will help refine the device’s effectiveness, using his group’s ex vivo models.

Together, the consortium will accelerate OSPT’s readiness for clinical trials and contribute to the fight against antimicrobial resistance, the next pandemic.

This 3rd consecutive, significant grant received by OSPT since 2021 is?a?testimony?to?the growing interest for bacteriophages, the most natural alternative to antibiotics. It follows on from the Addendum to the UK's 5-year national action plan on AMR which included “explore alternative interventions and therapies such as bacteriophages“ ; the UK parliament enquiry into the use of phages for human health?in?early 2023 ; the DHSC, MHRA, NHSE and UKSHA recognising “a clear case for phages” and the EMA’s guidance on regulations?for?phages for veterinary use, published end of 2023.

Oxford Silk Phage Technologies Ltd (OSPT) is an Oxford-based company founded in 2020, developing innovative medical implants integrating bacteriophage viruses to reduce patients’ risk of surgical site infections. The proof of concept of the company’s proprietary technology was supported by non-dilutive funding secured from OxLEP, the NIHR, IUK (Biomedical Catalyst) and INCATE Europe, enabled by the match funding of its private investors. This next step forward will be the stepping stone for the development of OSPT’s other pipeline of bioactive devices, reducing the risk of implant infections and the need for antibiotic treatment.

Ben Temperton is an Associate Professor of Microbiology and an internationally recognised expert in phage genomics, isolation and characterisation. ?Prof Temperton established the Citizen Phage Library (CPL, https://citizenphage.com) to provide personalised phage therapeutics for patients suffering from bacterial infections for compassionate use and now comprises one of the largest phage biobanks in the UK.

Dr Shan Goh is a Senior Lecturer in Microbiology at University of Hertfordshire, whose research centres on the challenge of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and has contributed to understanding and controlling AMR through novel mechanisms, in particular phages and gene silencing. Dr Goh currently serves as an Associate Editor for Frontiers Microbiology (phage biology section), Anaerobe (Elsievier), and Antibiotics (MDPI).?

Dr Liam McAuley is a Reader and Head of the Centre for Research in Topical Drug Delivery?and?Toxicology, an internationally renowned Centre of Excellence for the development of ex corporem models to understand absorption of exogenous substances. His research group focus on optimising, characterising and testing formulations to solve challenges in drug delivery to skin, wounds and mucous membranes for the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries.

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, is the UK’s innovation agency. We work to create a better future by inspiring, involving and investing in businesses developing life-changing innovations. With an annual budget of over ￡1billion we provide businesses with the expertise, facilities and funding they need to test, demonstrate and evolve their ideas, driving UK productivity and economic growth. For more information visit?www.innovateuk.ukri.org

David Laskow-Pooley James Gilbert Anusha Saravanan Jamie Sahota Shan Goh Ben Temperton Innovate UK INCATE Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (OxLEP) LYVA Labs Bacteriophage.news Richard James BioEscalator