Viatris, Inc. and Locus Biosciences, Inc. announced a new research collaboration geared toward engineering bacteriophage (phage) products for ophthalmic bacterial infections.
I’m not familiar with Locus…
Not surprising, as the company hasn’t historically been involved in the ophthalmic space.
About Locus: This clinical-stage pharmaceutical company is developing a new class of precision biotherapeutics for bacterial and microbiome/inflammatory diseases.
- Specifically: These products are intended to remove disease-causing pathogenic bacteria from the human body, leaving the other bacteria in the microbiome unaffected.
And how’s it doing this?
Via the company’s proprietary development platform: LOCUS.
About the LOCUS platform: In simple terms, this is an advanced precision drug development platform that integrates predictive artificial intelligence (AI), automation, and synthetic biology.
- Take note: This synthetic biology includes programmable CRISPR-Cas3 (and other therapeutic) payloads that use a molecular shredder to target bacterial DNA
Before we get more into the platform, tell me about the partnership.
According to the agreement, Locus and Viatris will work together to “develop precision antibacterial therapeutics for serious eye infections.”
- This therapeutic area, they noted, is “an area of high unmet medical need due to the rise in antibiotic-resistant infections worldwide.”
Case in point: Just last month, the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) released new data showing that one in six bacterial infections globally are resistant to standard antibiotics.
Got it. Now back to LOCUS—how are products created?
The LOCUS platform develops products (“phage cocktails”) that selectively remove bacterial species—while sparing beneficial species— to eliminate pathogenic bacteria.
Importantly: This is done at “equivalent or superior levels than antibiotics without the drawback associated with broad-spectrum antibiotics,” according to the company.
And what does the product development process look like?
The eight-step process is based on LOCUS running a repeatable, data-based loop to develop fixed (off-the-shelf) phage drugs
See here for a visual breakdown of each step.
So what products has Locus focused on so far?
Locus’s investigational products are under development to target four bacterial species that cause antibiotic-resistant infections and deaths across the globe.
The therapeutic targets (up until now) have included inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and other microbiome-related diseases.
- As for its lead clinical asset: LBP-EC01 is currently in phase 2 clinical development for urinary tract infections (UTIs).
Now, in regards to this new ophthalmic focus …
“Targeted therapies are urgently needed to address the growing burden of antimicrobial resistance in eye infections,” stated Paul Garofolo, Locus’s co-founder and CEO.
Real-world evidence of this: Need we mention those eye drop and artificial tear recalls from over 2023? This involved an outbreak of an antibiotic-resistant form of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacterial strain that led to:
- Vision loss
- Enucleation
- Death
Yikes. Good point. So is there a timeframe for these new precision medicines?
None so far (or that was publicly shared). As always, stay tuned for updates on the companies’ progress!