CosmosID®, a leading microbial genomics company focused on standardized, high-resolution microbiome analysis, and Locus Biosciences, Inc. (“Locus”), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing a new class of precision engineered bacteriophage treatments for a diverse set of bacterial diseases, today announced a partnership for long-term support for Locus’ clinical trial initiatives. CosmosID, based in Germantown, MD, and Stockholm, Sweden, provides CLIA-certified, GCP-compliant laboratory services for the microbiome field based on standardized and validated metagenomics assays and industry-leading bioinformatics.
Locus is developing two innovative categories of biotherapeutics to address significant unmet medical needs: precision CRISPR-enhanced bacteriophage (crPhage®) products to fight deadly infections, including those caused by multi-drug resistant bacteria; and engineered bacteriophage therapies that utilize bacteria resident in specific locations in the body to deliver therapeutic molecules. By combining discovery automation, synthetic biology, industry-leading informatics and sophisticated in-house manufacturing, Locus is able to rapidly identify, characterize, engineer and manufacture bacteriophage products against bacterial targets implicated in the pathogenesis of many diseases.
CosmosID’s infrastructure for providing access to robust, compliant and higher resolution microbiome analysis results will allow Locus to add further insight and capability into its precision therapeutics platform. Using shotgun metagenomics, CosmosID will help Locus understand the efficacy of its products through the highest resolution microbiome analysis, starting with its urinary tract infection clinical program.
“We’re thrilled to partner with Locus on its groundbreaking clinical pipeline as we help the company better understand the impact of these phages on the microbiome,” said Manoj Dadlani, CEO of CosmosID. “Locus’ robust and diligent approach to this study is much needed in the field and we look forward to helping them build a strong clinical data package.”
“The importance of maintaining a healthy microbiome is now widely accepted in medicine,” said Paul Garofolo, CEO of Locus Biosciences. “This partnership with CosmosID will allow Locus to monitor microbiome changes upon treatment of patients with antibiotics and with crPhage, helping us to evaluate the impact of preserving and protecting their microflora while clearing their infections.”
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