Seattle biotech startup Phase Genomics is receiving $1.5 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to fund research into two important areas: killing drug-resistant bacteria and battling methane-producing microorganisms that live in the guts of cows and other ruminants.
The new grant will support a year-long project to create an antimicrobial discovery platform to tackle these challenges. The focus is on Campylobacter infections, which are among the most common human infections and can cause severe diarrhea. Methane released in cow burps are the No. 1 source of greenhouse gases for the agricultural sector.
The startup’s work is centered on bacteriophages, or phages, which are viruses that infect bacteria and as well as other microorganisms known as archaea. The phages produce proteins called lysins that target specific bacteria.
“With support from the Gates Foundation, we’re harnessing our global phage database with the goal of improving human and environmental health and providing a critical alternative to traditional antibiotics,” Ivan Liachko, CEO and co-founder of Phase Genomics, said in a statement.
The company launched in 2015 and was the first startup to spin out of the University of Washington’s Genome Sciences department. Phase Genomics has grown to 26 employees, and raised a total of $19.5 million in grants and $4.5 million in venture capital.
The startup aims to develop lysin-based antibiotics, which it says “are well-suited for rapid, scalable biomanufacturing and deployment.”
The Gates Foundation-funded project includes a collaboration between Phase Genomics and Seattle-based Lumen Bioscience, which will help in assessing the bioactivity of lysins.
