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Phagos develops personalised bacteriophage solutions as a sustainable alternative to antibiotics.
Memo Highlights
Confidential
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Highlights
Led by CapAgro (Agriconomie, ecoRobotix, Naio), Hoxton Ventures (Darktrace, Deliveroo, Preply) & Cap Horn (Ledger, Intercloud, Eodev) in an oversubscribed Series A round, Phagos is pioneering the use of bacteriophages to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria to address an urgent global health issue and will end up costing over $100T/yr. The company employs a unique machine learning platform to predict and produce the most effective phage cocktails, providing a personalized approach to bacterial infections, solving a critical need as antibiotic resistance continues to rise. Clinical trials have demonstrated up to 70% health improvements. As a result of this, Phagos has secured a commercial deal worth up to €7.5M/yr with a billion-dollar multinational agrifood producer. This deal represents the largest known phage deployment, covering over 500M animals annually. Phagos currently has a sales pipeline of €65M/yr.
Why we’re excited to invest:
Massive $100T/yr Problem: A third of farm antibiotics are now failing, which has increased 3x since 2000
An innovative Solution: Phagos builds scalable personalized phage therapy as a solution to save millions of lives, reduce GHG emissions from animal farming waste, and drastically cut pharmaceutical pollution by providing a sustainable alternative to antibiotics.
Strong early Traction: Phagos has secured a commercial deal worth up to €7.5M/yr with a billion-dollar multinational agrifood producer. This deal represents the largest known phage deployment, covering over 500M animals annually. Phagos currently has a sales pipeline of €65M/yr.
Expert Founders: Over 10 years of experience in phage biology and microbiology, L'Oreal-UNESCO fellow.
INVESTORS
DEAL
This is an €15M Series A round on a €40M pre-money valuation
PROBLEM
75% of all antibiotics in the world are consumed by farmed animals, not humans! As such, farmed animals are the biggest contributors to the global antibiotic resistance pandemic that ultimately affects humans. The situation is already catastrophic for farmers: 33% of farmed animals antibiotics fail. That’s 3x more than in the year 2000. Antibiotic failure means farmers can have to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of animals to prevent the infection.
Global Impact of Bacterial Diseases
Second Largest Cause of Death Globally - Bacterial diseases are the second largest cause of death worldwide, following ischemic heart disease. In 2019 alone, infections caused by 33 types of bacteria were linked to 7.7 million deaths globally, accounting for 1/8 of all deaths. Notably, 4.95 million of these deaths were associated with resistant bacteria.
1.5% of Global GHG Emissions - The livestock sector alone contributes 800 million tons of CO2e per year, amounting to 1.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Approximately 20% of terrestrial animal production is lost to disease, with bacterial infections responsible for about half of these losses, which can be treated by Phagos.
Major Pharmaceutical Pollution Contributor - Pharmaceutical pollution of waters and soils is an emerging environmental issue and a critical public health concern, as identified by the European Commission and the World Health Organization. Antibiotics, in particular, pose a significant hazard to ecosystems and human health. Studies have shown that antibiotic pollution leads to lethal and sub-lethal alterations in animals, inhibits algae growth, reduces bacterial diversity, and spreads antibiotic resistance. Despite these dangers, there are currently no regulations regarding surface water levels for any antibiotic.
Read the comprehensive document on this topic here.
The global demand for animal farming continues to rise due to a growing population and increasing food consumption. By 2029, global meat consumption is expected to increase by 12%, reaching 145M tonnes of poultry, 127M tonnes of pork, 76M tonnes of beef, and 200M tonnes of fish. However, the widespread use of antibiotics in this industry has led to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains, creating a significant public health crisis known as antimicrobial resistance (AMR). A US study has shown that populations living near pig farms are 30% more likely to be infected with methicillin-resistant S. aureus bacteria.
SOLUTION
Phagos builds scalable personalized phage therapy as a solution to save millions of lives, reduce GHG emissions from animal farming waste, and drastically cut pharmaceutical pollution by providing a sustainable alternative to antibiotics.
Phagos is pioneering a scalable therapeutic approach to tackle bacterial resistance through bacteriophage (phage) therapy. Phages are natural regulators of bacterial populations, specifically targeting and lysing bacteria. Phagos leverages their adaptive capacities to create tailored phage therapies that evolve alongside bacterial pathogens, ensuring long-term efficacy.
To combat infectious diseases in the long term, Phagos leverages bacteriophages, or phages, the natural predators of bacteria. Phages are the most abundant biological entities on Earth and naturally regulate bacterial populations with high specificity, infecting only a limited number of bacterial strains. Phages and their bacterial hosts co-evolve, with phages constantly adapting to counter bacterial defenses. While phages have been used as antibacterial agents for almost a century, their traditional and static use, similar to antibiotics, does not fully exploit their potential.
Phagos proposes using phages as a customized service. Starting from an infected sample, Phagos determines the origin of the infection and develops an initial phage cocktail optimized to treat the sample. The effectiveness of the treatment is monitored over time, and if necessary, the treatment is adapted to maintain high efficacy.
Phagos has developed 35 proprietary workflow optimizations and 6 core technologies to enhance this process.
Designing a Phage Cocktail
Evolutionary Strategy for Continuous Optimization
Value proposition
TRACTION
Phagos has secured a commercial deal worth up to €7.5M/yr with a billion-dollar multinational agrifood producer. This deal represents the largest known phage deployment, covering over 500M animals annually.
Clinical trials have demonstrated up to 70% health improvements. Deployment will begin this year, with full implementation expected in 3.5 years. The agreement includes a 5% royalty-bearing sales clause. Additionally, Phagos will gain industrial production expertise to enable independent deployment in further markets.
Phagos has a total sales pipeline potential of €65M/yr and has just raising €15M to realize this current pipeline and expand it to €250M/yr.
Achievements and Future Focus
Phagos has successfully conducted three clinical trials on different species, eradicating target pathogens and showing up to a 70% increase in productivity. The initial focus is on treating bacterial infections in chicken, dairy cow, and shrimp farming, with the platform designed to be species agnostic for future applications, including human pathogens.
Phagos has de-risked its platform by showcasing its personalization potential through three clinical trials on different species infected by various bacterial pathogens, effectively treating all infections.
In all trials, virulent strains were isolated from initial samples, and efficient phages were selected to combat the pathogenic species. The phages were characterized in vitro, and a highly effective cocktail was produced. Phagos is now commercially dispatching its solution through several pilots with key industry partners in France and Asia. Additionally, Phagos has developed AI tools to expedite wet lab analysis and experiment design.
CocktailPhinder, a standout solution, simplifies the selection of phage combinations for in vitro testing, saving time and resources. In the JAPFA deal, AI was applied through CocktailPhinder to address Salmonellosis. From a pool of 9 promising salmophages, the tool efficiently narrowed down potential cocktail combinations from 512 to the top 5 predictions, reducing lab testing time from 48 days to just 1 day.
Phagos provides veterinarians and farmers with personalized treatments, reducing the need for antibiotics and minimizing AMR risk. Their innovative platform revolutionizes veterinary medicine with tailored solutions that prioritize animal health and welfare.
Phagos’ impact extends beyond scientific innovation to saving lives. Each breakthrough in phage therapy results in direct animal lives saved, crucial for global food security, and indirect human lives saved by mitigating resistant bacterial infections. Their commitment to socio-environmental impact drives them to shape a healthier, more resilient future for all species.
Phagos targets influential organizations in the agricultural and food production sector to leverage their expertise and networks. The go-to-market plan includes:
Expansion to the US
Phagos is accelerating its timeline to enter the US market, ensuring readiness before taking on major US clients. The company is focusing on connecting with the right people and ensuring regulatory compliance to replicate their success outside the US. By the end of the year, Phagos expects to receive formal authorization in Europe to use their phage technology, setting a precedent for entry into the US market.
COMPETITION
Phagos operates in a market with limited competition, with only two companies having launched significant phage products for animal farming. None have passed EU efficacy evaluations, highlighting Phagos’ unique advantage with its personalized approach. Phagos' ML-driven bio platform, the first of its kind, allows for the rapid and accurate delivery of tailored phage therapies, creating a significant technological and market advantage.
You can view an in depth review of Phagos competitors here
Key Innovations and Competitive Advantages
TEAM
REGULATION
EU regulations for phages are currently modeled after those for antibiotics, though these entities are fundamentally different. Antibiotics are inanimate molecules with a broad spectrum of action, eliminating bacteria indiscriminately. In contrast, phages co-evolve with bacteria and have a narrow spectrum of action, targeting specific bacteria. The existing framework requires each phage cocktail to be registered as a new pharmaceutical, taking an average of five years. This approach overlooks the unique nature of phages, making large-scale phage therapy legally unfeasible, contributing to the lack of mainstream pharmaceutical phage products in the EU.
However, phage regulation is evolving. Phages are now included in the European
Pharmacopoeia and are listed in the European Pharmacopoeia Commission Priorities for 2023-2025. EU veterinary phage regulation is moving towards granting marketing authorizations for phage banks, allowing any phage combination to be marketed instead of authorizing single phage cocktails. This change, introduced in the October 2023 Guideline, still requires individual regulatory approval for each phage in the bank, making marketing phage therapy in the EU challenging.
Phagos' breakthrough in efficient personalized phage therapy provides a unique advantage, allowing Phagos to circumvent EU regulations by marketing a process rather than a single phage or phage cocktail.
PRESS
Memo
Led by CapAgro (Agriconomie, ecoRobotix, Naio), Hoxton Ventures (Darktrace, Deliveroo, Preply) & Cap Horn (Ledger, Intercloud, Eodev) in an oversubscribed Series A round, Phagos is pioneering the use of bacteriophages to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria to address an urgent global health issue and will end up costing over $100T/yr. The company employs a unique machine learning platform to predict and produce the most effective phage cocktails, providing a personalized approach to bacterial infections, solving a critical need as antibiotic resistance continues to rise. Clinical trials have demonstrated up to 70% health improvements. As a result of this, Phagos has secured a commercial deal worth up to €7.5M/yr with a billion-dollar multinational agrifood producer. This deal represents the largest known phage deployment, covering over 500M animals annually. Phagos currently has a sales pipeline of €65M/yr.
Why we’re excited to invest:
Massive $100T/yr Problem: A third of farm antibiotics are now failing, which has increased 3x since 2000
An innovative Solution: Phagos builds scalable personalized phage therapy as a solution to save millions of lives, reduce GHG emissions from animal farming waste, and drastically cut pharmaceutical pollution by providing a sustainable alternative to antibiotics.
Strong early Traction: Phagos has secured a commercial deal worth up to €7.5M/yr with a billion-dollar multinational agrifood producer. This deal represents the largest known phage deployment, covering over 500M animals annually. Phagos currently has a sales pipeline of €65M/yr.
Expert Founders: Over 10 years of experience in phage biology and microbiology, L'Oreal-UNESCO fellow.
INVESTORS
DEAL
This is an €15M Series A round on a €40M pre-money valuation
PROBLEM
75% of all antibiotics in the world are consumed by farmed animals, not humans! As such, farmed animals are the biggest contributors to the global antibiotic resistance pandemic that ultimately affects humans. The situation is already catastrophic for farmers: 33% of farmed animals antibiotics fail. That’s 3x more than in the year 2000. Antibiotic failure means farmers can have to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of animals to prevent the infection.
Global Impact of Bacterial Diseases
Second Largest Cause of Death Globally - Bacterial diseases are the second largest cause of death worldwide, following ischemic heart disease. In 2019 alone, infections caused by 33 types of bacteria were linked to 7.7 million deaths globally, accounting for 1/8 of all deaths. Notably, 4.95 million of these deaths were associated with resistant bacteria.
1.5% of Global GHG Emissions - The livestock sector alone contributes 800 million tons of CO2e per year, amounting to 1.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Approximately 20% of terrestrial animal production is lost to disease, with bacterial infections responsible for about half of these losses, which can be treated by Phagos.
Major Pharmaceutical Pollution Contributor - Pharmaceutical pollution of waters and soils is an emerging environmental issue and a critical public health concern, as identified by the European Commission and the World Health Organization. Antibiotics, in particular, pose a significant hazard to ecosystems and human health. Studies have shown that antibiotic pollution leads to lethal and sub-lethal alterations in animals, inhibits algae growth, reduces bacterial diversity, and spreads antibiotic resistance. Despite these dangers, there are currently no regulations regarding surface water levels for any antibiotic.
Read the comprehensive document on this topic here.
The global demand for animal farming continues to rise due to a growing population and increasing food consumption. By 2029, global meat consumption is expected to increase by 12%, reaching 145M tonnes of poultry, 127M tonnes of pork, 76M tonnes of beef, and 200M tonnes of fish. However, the widespread use of antibiotics in this industry has led to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains, creating a significant public health crisis known as antimicrobial resistance (AMR). A US study has shown that populations living near pig farms are 30% more likely to be infected with methicillin-resistant S. aureus bacteria.
SOLUTION
Phagos builds scalable personalized phage therapy as a solution to save millions of lives, reduce GHG emissions from animal farming waste, and drastically cut pharmaceutical pollution by providing a sustainable alternative to antibiotics.
Phagos is pioneering a scalable therapeutic approach to tackle bacterial resistance through bacteriophage (phage) therapy. Phages are natural regulators of bacterial populations, specifically targeting and lysing bacteria. Phagos leverages their adaptive capacities to create tailored phage therapies that evolve alongside bacterial pathogens, ensuring long-term efficacy.
To combat infectious diseases in the long term, Phagos leverages bacteriophages, or phages, the natural predators of bacteria. Phages are the most abundant biological entities on Earth and naturally regulate bacterial populations with high specificity, infecting only a limited number of bacterial strains. Phages and their bacterial hosts co-evolve, with phages constantly adapting to counter bacterial defenses. While phages have been used as antibacterial agents for almost a century, their traditional and static use, similar to antibiotics, does not fully exploit their potential.
Phagos proposes using phages as a customized service. Starting from an infected sample, Phagos determines the origin of the infection and develops an initial phage cocktail optimized to treat the sample. The effectiveness of the treatment is monitored over time, and if necessary, the treatment is adapted to maintain high efficacy.
Phagos has developed 35 proprietary workflow optimizations and 6 core technologies to enhance this process.
Designing a Phage Cocktail
Evolutionary Strategy for Continuous Optimization
Value proposition
TRACTION
Phagos has secured a commercial deal worth up to €7.5M/yr with a billion-dollar multinational agrifood producer. This deal represents the largest known phage deployment, covering over 500M animals annually.
Clinical trials have demonstrated up to 70% health improvements. Deployment will begin this year, with full implementation expected in 3.5 years. The agreement includes a 5% royalty-bearing sales clause. Additionally, Phagos will gain industrial production expertise to enable independent deployment in further markets.
Phagos has a total sales pipeline potential of €65M/yr and has just raising €15M to realize this current pipeline and expand it to €250M/yr.
Achievements and Future Focus
Phagos has successfully conducted three clinical trials on different species, eradicating target pathogens and showing up to a 70% increase in productivity. The initial focus is on treating bacterial infections in chicken, dairy cow, and shrimp farming, with the platform designed to be species agnostic for future applications, including human pathogens.
Phagos has de-risked its platform by showcasing its personalization potential through three clinical trials on different species infected by various bacterial pathogens, effectively treating all infections.
In all trials, virulent strains were isolated from initial samples, and efficient phages were selected to combat the pathogenic species. The phages were characterized in vitro, and a highly effective cocktail was produced. Phagos is now commercially dispatching its solution through several pilots with key industry partners in France and Asia. Additionally, Phagos has developed AI tools to expedite wet lab analysis and experiment design.
CocktailPhinder, a standout solution, simplifies the selection of phage combinations for in vitro testing, saving time and resources. In the JAPFA deal, AI was applied through CocktailPhinder to address Salmonellosis. From a pool of 9 promising salmophages, the tool efficiently narrowed down potential cocktail combinations from 512 to the top 5 predictions, reducing lab testing time from 48 days to just 1 day.
Phagos provides veterinarians and farmers with personalized treatments, reducing the need for antibiotics and minimizing AMR risk. Their innovative platform revolutionizes veterinary medicine with tailored solutions that prioritize animal health and welfare.
Phagos’ impact extends beyond scientific innovation to saving lives. Each breakthrough in phage therapy results in direct animal lives saved, crucial for global food security, and indirect human lives saved by mitigating resistant bacterial infections. Their commitment to socio-environmental impact drives them to shape a healthier, more resilient future for all species.
Phagos targets influential organizations in the agricultural and food production sector to leverage their expertise and networks. The go-to-market plan includes:
Expansion to the US
Phagos is accelerating its timeline to enter the US market, ensuring readiness before taking on major US clients. The company is focusing on connecting with the right people and ensuring regulatory compliance to replicate their success outside the US. By the end of the year, Phagos expects to receive formal authorization in Europe to use their phage technology, setting a precedent for entry into the US market.
COMPETITION
Phagos operates in a market with limited competition, with only two companies having launched significant phage products for animal farming. None have passed EU efficacy evaluations, highlighting Phagos’ unique advantage with its personalized approach. Phagos' ML-driven bio platform, the first of its kind, allows for the rapid and accurate delivery of tailored phage therapies, creating a significant technological and market advantage.
You can view an in depth review of Phagos competitors here
Key Innovations and Competitive Advantages
TEAM
REGULATION
EU regulations for phages are currently modeled after those for antibiotics, though these entities are fundamentally different. Antibiotics are inanimate molecules with a broad spectrum of action, eliminating bacteria indiscriminately. In contrast, phages co-evolve with bacteria and have a narrow spectrum of action, targeting specific bacteria. The existing framework requires each phage cocktail to be registered as a new pharmaceutical, taking an average of five years. This approach overlooks the unique nature of phages, making large-scale phage therapy legally unfeasible, contributing to the lack of mainstream pharmaceutical phage products in the EU.
However, phage regulation is evolving. Phages are now included in the European
Pharmacopoeia and are listed in the European Pharmacopoeia Commission Priorities for 2023-2025. EU veterinary phage regulation is moving towards granting marketing authorizations for phage banks, allowing any phage combination to be marketed instead of authorizing single phage cocktails. This change, introduced in the October 2023 Guideline, still requires individual regulatory approval for each phage in the bank, making marketing phage therapy in the EU challenging.
Phagos' breakthrough in efficient personalized phage therapy provides a unique advantage, allowing Phagos to circumvent EU regulations by marketing a process rather than a single phage or phage cocktail.
PRESS