Eligo Bioscience, is a Paris-based next-generation microbiome precision medicine company
Eligo Bioscience is pioneering the development of phage-derived DNA delivery vectors for microbial species involved in a number of diseases areas, including infectious diseases, inflammatory diseases and auto-immune diseases.
Eligo Bioscience’s EligobioticsTM Plaform
EligobioticsTM platform enables the production of DNA delivery vectors derived from phage-like particles that can be used to delivery therapeutic payloads to targeted bacterial populations in the microbiome. The platform has generated a pipeline of four programs, of which the first three are based on the delivery of a nuclease system targeting pathogenic or antibiotic-resistance genetic signatures in gut and skin bacterial species, leading to the specific eradication of the bacterial strains carrying these genetic signature while leaving the rest of the commensal strains intact. The fourth program is based on the delivery of a non-lethal therapeutic payload in the targeted bacterial populations.
This month, CARB-X announced that it is awarding up to US$1.82 million to Eligo Bioscience with additional funding for a total award of up to US$7.05 million if project milestones are met, for the development of a new generation of highly-specific antimicrobials to prevent multi-drug-resistant bacterial infections in organ transplant patients. Eligo’s bacteriophage- and CRISPR-based therapeutics are designed to selectively eliminate extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing (ESBL) and Carbapenem-resistant E. coli and K. Pneumoniae (CRE) from the microbiome of transplant patients before their procedure, thereby preventing the onset of these often-fatal infections.
The Eligo EB004 project is the first CRISPR-based phage project funded by CARB-X,” said Erin Duffy, Chief of Research and Development at CARB-X, a global non-profit partnership focused on supporting the early development of new vaccines, rapid diagnostics, antibiotics, and other life-saving therapeutic products to address the rise of drug-resistant bacteria. “Eligo is developing a new class of targeted biotherapeutics to selectively eliminate certain multidrug-resistant bacteria by combining the specificity of CRISPR and the ability of bacteriophages to deliver DNA into bacteria. This innovative approach, if successful, offers additional benefits in that it can prevent multi-drug-resistant infections while not harming bacteria in the microbiome.”
“We are extremely enthusiastic about our collaboration with CARB-X, which will bring our platform technology one step closer to addressing the critical problem of antibiotic resistance, starting with organ transplant patients, a population at extremely high risk of developing multi-resistant infections,” said Xavier Duportet, CEO of Eligo Bioscience.
Other investors include Khosla Ventures, Seventure Partners, and Bpifrance, Seventure Partners and Horizon 2020.
Here is the company’s most recent patent filing, Chimeric receptor binding proteins for use in bacterial delivery vehicles
