SBIR-STTR Award

A New Biotherapeutic Approach to Combating Unwanted Bacteria
Award last edited on: 5/12/2005

Sponsored Program
SBIR
Awarding Agency
NSF
Total Award Amount
$598,560
Award Phase
2
Solicitation Topic Code
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Principal Investigator
Hideki Suzuki

Company Information

Atterx Biotherapeutics (AKA: ConjuGon Inc)

505 South Rosa Road Suite 117
Madison, WI 53719
   (608) 441-2794
   info@conjugon.com
   www.conjugon.com
Location: Single
Congr. District: 02
County: Dane

Phase I

Contract Number: ----------
Start Date: ----    Completed: ----
Phase I year
2003
Phase I Amount
$99,657
This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will develop a new method for killing unwanted and antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is becoming a crisis of epic proportions. Overuse and misuse of antibiotics is seen as a major cause of this problem. In June 2001, the American Medical Association went on record opposing the use of antibiotics in agriculture for "non- therapeutic" use in animals. A Public Health Action Plan, written by a federal task force, recommends that entirely new approaches are needed to go beyond the use of traditional antibiotics to employ novel anti-microbial agents that kill pathogens while minimizing the ability of the target bacteria to develop horizontally transferable resistance. The goal of this project is to develop just such a technology. The proposed technology does not incorporate traditional chemical antibiotics, but utilizes well-understood biological processes in a novel and proprietary fashion. It involves engineering harmless bacteria to kill unwanted bacteria by redundant mechanisms that will minimize the development of resistance. The commercial applications of this project are expected to be primarily in the areas of agriculture and veterinary medicine. Initial project efforts will be aimed at combatting Fire Blight (Erwinia amylovora) in fruit crops and reducing Salmonella contamination in poultry

Phase II

Contract Number: ----------
Start Date: ----    Completed: ----
Phase II year
2004
Phase II Amount
$498,903
This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II research project will develop a commercial biotherapeutic using a unique bacterial conjugation technology to deliver cytotoxic genes and their products to bacterial pathogens. The Phase I work successfully demonstrated proof of concept by effectively killing multi drug resistant bacteria in vitro. The Phase II project will optimize the technology further to create a treatment for nosocomial (hospital acquired) urinary tract infections. The commercial application of this project will be in the area of anti-infective therapy. The proposed work provides a unique therapeutic approach that can compliment standard antibiotic therapies as well as reduce the dire problem of the burgeoning development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the clinic