Biotech Breakthrough: PhageLab Secures $11 Million to Combat Antibiotic Resistance in Livestock with Revolutionary Technology
PhageLab, a trailblazing biotechnology company, has just announced a monumental $11 million funding round, led by an impressive consortium including Nazca, Collaborative Fund, Water Lemon Ventures, and key individual investor Kevin Efrusy. This significant investment marks a major step forward in the company's mission to revolutionize the livestock industry by targeting and eradicating multidrug-resistant bacteria through innovative bacteriophage-based applications.
The funding will catapult PhageLab's advancement of its phage-based solutions pipeline, cementing its commercial foothold in Brazil, its primary market, and setting the stage for expansion into the US market. Additionally, this capital influx will bolster PhageLab's global team expansion, which currently boasts nearly 100 experts across Latin America and Europe.
In the face of rising antibiotic-resistant outbreaks in livestock farming, PhageLab's approach is a game-changer. Bacteriophages, the small viral particles at the heart of PhageLab's technology, offer a natural and effective alternative to traditional antibiotics. They are adept at identifying and destroying pathogenic bacteria, crucial in an era where half of the antibiotics used in intensive animal farming have become ineffective since 2019, contributing to over 4.95 million deaths globally related to multidrug resistance.
Harnessing the power of AI, PhageLab's proprietary microbial bioinformatics platform creates tailor-made 'cocktails' capable of managing pathogenic bacteria in livestock, significantly reducing antibiotic dependency. This cutting-edge platform leverages a vast database, one of the largest industrial bacterial databases in the world, to rapidly develop safe and effective solutions for livestock bacterial issues.
Hans Pieringer, CEO & Co-Founder of PhageLab, expressed excitement about attracting a top-tier investor group that endorses their mission to combat antibiotic resistance. Starting in animal health, PhageLab aims to quickly expand its global impact, with the new funding enabling expansion into new geographies and product development within the year.
Kevin Efrusy, a key investor, lauded PhageLab for its groundbreaking science and swift development timeline, distinguishing it from traditional biotechs. PhageLab's solutions hold immense potential to innovate and advance sustainability in the food system and human health, addressing the critical issue of multidrug antibiotic resistance.
Luisa Sucre from Collaborative Fund and Hector Sepulveda from Nazca expressed their enthusiasm for supporting PhageLab's transformative technology and their commitment to reshaping the battle against antibiotic resistance.
With products like INSPEKTOR, which reduces Salmonella spp. in broiler chicken farms, and upcoming launches targeting E. coli and infectious diarrhea in pigs, PhageLab is at the forefront of combating livestock infections. They are poised to demonstrate the effectiveness of their custom-made bacteriophage cocktail at the International Production and Processing Expo in Atlanta.
PhageLab's journey is a beacon of hope in the fight against antibiotic resistance, combining innovative biotechnology with a visionary approach to safeguarding livestock health and, by extension, global health and food security.
