GAITHERSBURG, Md– Adaptive Phage Therapeutics, Inc. (“APT”), a clinical-stage biotechnology company advancing the world’s largest therapeutic phage initiative for treatment of bacterial infectious diseases, today announced that the Defense Health Agency (DHA) has awarded an additional $5 million to support clinical development of APT’s adaptive bacteriophage (“phage”) therapy in treatment of diabetic foot osteomyelitis (DFO). APT is evaluating safety and efficacy of its precision phage-based therapy in the ongoing Phase 1/2 DANCE™ (DFO Adaptive Novel Care Evaluation) clinical trial.
“We are pleased to announce this expansion of our existing DHA agreement supporting development of phage-based therapies, further highlighting DHA’s commitment to the potential of our adaptive therapeutic approach to improve treatment of a variety of antimicrobial-resistant bacterial infections. This additional $5 million supports our Phase 1/2 DANCE™ clinical trial which is progressing towards generating APT’s first clinical results utilizing our RAPID™ (Rapidly Adaptive Phage for Infectious Disease) technology,” stated Greg Merril, CEO and co-founder of Adaptive Phage Therapeutics. “We look forward to our continued support from the DHA, as well as presenting our initial clinical data from our ongoing Phase 1/2 DANCE trial in the second half of 2023.”
The prevalence of adult diabetes has more than tripled over the past 20 years, growing to more than a half billion patients worldwide. DFO currently causes approximately 85% of lower extremity amputations in diabetic patients. The American Diabetes Association estimates that 20% of patients with diabetic foot infections have underlying osteomyelitis that, left unresolved, places patients at significantly higher risk of amputation.
