NexaBiome enters partnership with JAFRAL for industrial-scale phage production

Release date:  19 March 2024

Press Release 

NexaBiome enters partnership with JAFRAL for industrial-scale phage production

 
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Pioneering UK biotech company NexaBiome has partnered with industry giant, JAFRAL, to propel the development of NexaBiome’s technology for industrial-scale production of immobilised bacteriophage.

The agreement signed between the two companies will enable production capacity to be significantly ramped up, with a hundredfold increase – creating the potential to treat millions of patients with phage-based therapies.

It represents a crucial step forward in advancing human health programmes, particularly at a time when the global healthcare community looks towards phage therapy as a promising solution to antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

JAFRAL, a leading Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisation (CDMO) based in Ljubljana, Slovenia, has overseen hundreds of successful projects involving phage, including the production of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) compliant products for clinical trials in the US, Europe and Australia.

NexaBiome CEO Dr Neil Clelland said: “As part of our strategy to expand deeper into the human health sector, JAFRAL’s expertise and reputation in the field will allow us to push the boundaries of what we thought was possible. Through this collaboration, we are committed to supplying UK and global health markets with the highest quality immobilised phage products, produced to GMP standards.

“Utilising our technology and JAFRAL’s production capabilities blows the doors wide open for the potential treatment of millions of patients with innovative phage solutions.”

Following a recent expansion, JAFRAL now has the largest capacity for phage production in the world. With NexaBiome’s technology, this will create the most extensive production capabilities of its kind.

JAFRAL CEO Frenk Smrekar said: “We’ve long been impressed with NexaBiome’s technology and strongly believe its capabilities are unmatched, with the equipment’s unique delivery system and improved stability – both vital components for successful usage of phage therapy.

“We look forward to combining our strengths to expand phage production to an unprecedented scale.”

Tantec, a third party in the agreement, has a long-standing relationship with NexaBiome and brings a wealth of manufacturing knowledge to the partnership, having supported the company in the development of its machinery and equipment prototypes.