The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation announced today that it has invested an additional $5 million in BiomX Inc. to support a Phase 2b clinical trial to test the efficacy of bacteriophage (phage) therapy in treating chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections — the second most common type of lung infection in people living with cystic fibrosis.
Previously, the Foundation had invested approximately $5 million in BiomX to conduct early-stage safety and tolerability studies in people with CF. Phage therapy uses phages (bacteria-specific viruses) to kill specific bacterial strains that are causing an infection.
“We continue to look for innovative ways to treat chronic and drug-resistant infections in people with CF,” said Tiffany Burnett, senior director of biopharma programs at the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. “These types of trials are important as we seek to move past individual reports of success to determine whether phage therapy is a viable treatment option for the broader CF population.”
BiomX has developed BX004, a phage cocktail that targets a broad range of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains. Pseudomonas infections are very difficult to eliminate once established in the airways. Among those tested in the Foundation’s Patient Registry — excluding those who have had lung transplants — 26% were found to be positive for Pseudomonas in 2022, and nearly 13% of them had multi-drug resistant strains of the bacteria.
The Foundation is supporting several phage research programs. Currently, people with CF can only access phage treatment in the U.S. by participating in a clinical trial or using the Food and Drug Administration emergency Investigational New Drug process, which only allows the use of experimental therapies for life-threatening conditions.
The investment in BiomX is part of the CF Foundation’s focus on developing new therapies for hard-to-treat infections. In addition to funding innovative research to develop new anti-infective therapies, the CF Foundation advocates for policy solutions that foster a robust pipeline of antibiotic development.