Tessera Defense & Homeland Security, Inc.

J. Craig Venter Institute has received a USD 1.79 million NIAID R01 award to advance a five-phage therapeutic cocktail targeting antibiotic-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae toward an FDA Investigational New Drug application — a significant translational step for a modality that has struggled to reach formal regulatory pathways. The grant, now in its fourth year, funds IND-enabling preclinical work across a three-institution consortium: JCVI, the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, and Germantown, Maryland-based Adaptive Phage Therapeutics. The collaboration divides responsibilities along institutional strengths — JCVI contributes synthetic and phage genomics expertise, Walter Reed brings mouse model development and phage therapeutic experience, and Adaptive Phage Therapeutics provides current Good Manufacturing Practice production infrastructure and prior phage clinical trial experience. K. pneumoniae poses a serious clinical problem, particularly in hospital settings where carbapenem-resistant strains leave physicians with few effective options for wound, pulmonary, and bloodstream infections. The five-phage cocktail under development demonstrated activity against 53 of 100 tested clinical strains, a coverage benchmark that will need to be weighed against the heterogeneity of strains encountered in practice. The funded work focuses on three objectives: cocktail optimization, IND-required safety and efficacy testing, and cGMP manufacturing scale-up. Derrick E. Fouts, the principal investigator, leads the effort from JCVI’s La Jolla campus. The consortium structure reflects a broader pattern in phage therapy development, where academic genomics capacity, military medical research infrastructure, and biotech manufacturing experience are being combined to navigate regulatory requirements that have historically slowed the field. Phage therapy has attracted renewed interest as antibiotic resistance has expanded, but clinical-stage assets remain scarce. Armata Pharmaceuticals and Locus Biosciences are among the companies advancing engineered phage candidates through formal trials; JCVI’s consortium-based, IND-focused approach represents an academic-led complement to those industry efforts. The program is also explicitly framed as a platform, with the team intending the workflow to serve as a template for future phage therapeutics against other bacterial pathogens. This article was generated with AI assistance and reviewed and edited by the AllSci editorial team Explore more at AllSci News: https://allsci.com/news/ Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * Comment * Name * Email * Website Privacy Terms About Us Copyright © 2026. AllSci Corp. All rights reserved.

The \"reset\" follows a series of layoffs, leadership departures, product discontinuations and a facility closure. \n Phage-focused BiomX is undergoing a “strategic and financial reset” in efforts to improve its position, mapping out a possible shift from therapeutics to the defense sector.  The changes are a culmination of layoffs, leadership departures, a product discontinuation and a facility shuttering. Now, the Israeli biotech has changed a $3 million private placement transaction made in December, amending the structure so that warrant holders only have a one-year exercise period rather than five years. The exercise price is now set at $1 per share, according to a March 19 letter to shareholders.  While BiomX said this move was made to “reduce overhang,” the shorter period will translate into less value for warrant holders. The company also said it is “focused on simplifying our capital structure and strengthening our financial foundation to support future growth.”To achieve such goals, BiomX is exploring “opportunities to reposition the company toward sectors benefiting from strong global demand for advanced technologies, including defense-related applications,” according to the release. Late last year, the biotech terminated development of BX004, a nebulized phage therapy being assessed in a phase 2b trial for patients with cystic fibrosis tied to chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections, a severe bacterial condition. BiomX picked up the program as one of two lead candidates from a 2024 buyout of Adaptive Phage Therapeutics.BiomX discontinued the candidate after a data monitoring committee recommended alternative dosing regimens or treatment approaches in response to adverse events (AEs) observed in several participants. The alternatives were “beyond the company’s available resources,” according to an annual Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing.The AEs raised broader questions about Adaptive\'s platform tech and pipeline programs. Because of that, BiomX conducted an assessment and recognized an $11.8 million impairment charge for 2025 related to the acquisition.At the time, the biotech conducted a “significant reduction in workforce” while reviewing strategic alternatives, according to SEC filings. In December, BiomX’s Israeli subsidiary, also called BiomX, launched insolvency proceedings. The subsidiary had served as the core operational unit of the entire company.“As a result of BiomX Ltd.’s insolvency, our business has been materially impacted, and without additional resources, we have limited ongoing operations and limited ability to advance our programs as previously planned,” the company wrote in the annual report filed in February.The Israeli subsidiary sold off all its property and equipment, with U.S.-based Adaptive ending its lease agreement in Maryland and selling off all its supplies.In the new year, the biotech has been plagued by a slew of leadership and board exits, with Chief Financial Officer Marina Wolfson and Chief Development Officer Merav Bassan, Ph.D., resigning at the end of February.  Earlier this month, BiomX CEO Jonathan Solomon also resigned. The company is now helmed by Michael Oster, who penned the letter to stockholders and has experience in corporate strategy and M&A. The company has also tapped David Rokach, who has more than 20 years of experience in investment management and corporate leadership, to serve as CFO.The biotech is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, with stocks slipping 10% since market open today. In the last five years, the biotech’s stock has fallen 99%.The company is not the first to consider pivoting to defense, with Italy gene therapy developer Genenta Science rebranding this year as Saentra Forge and focusing on manufacturing firearms. 

NESS ZIONA, Israel , Jan. 27, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BiomX Inc. (NYSE American: PHGE) (“BiomX” or the “Company”), a clinical-stage company advancing novel natural and engineered phage therapies targeting specific pathogenic bacteria, today issued a statement in response to recent unusual market activity in its common stock. The Company is not aware of any material developments in its business or affairs that have not been previously disclosed, nor, to its knowledge, of any other reason that would account for the recent unusual market activity in its common stock. NYSE American LLC has contacted the Company in accordance with its usual practice and has advised that the Company issue this statement. The Company does not intend to make any further comment on market speculation or trading activity. About BiomXBiomX is a clinical-stage company leading the development of natural and engineered phage cocktails and personalized phage treatments designed to target and destroy harmful bacteria for the treatment of chronic diseases with substantial unmet needs. BiomX discovers and validates proprietary bacterial targets and applies its BOLT (“BacteriOphage Lead to Treatment”) platform to customize phage compositions against these targets. For more information, please visit www.biomx.com, the content of which does not form a part of this press release. Contacts: BiomX, Inc. Ben Cohen Head Corporate Communications benc@biomx.com Source: BiomX Inc