SASPject

SASPject is a proprietary antibacterial platform technology developed by Phico Therapeutics that utilizes engineered bacteriophages as delivery vehicles to transport genes encoding Small Acid-Soluble Spore Proteins (SASP) into target bacteria. Once inside the bacterial cell, the SASP genes are expressed, and the resulting proteins bind to bacterial DNA in a non-sequence-specific manner. This binding inactivates the DNA, effectively preventing the bacteria from metabolizing or reproducing. Because the mechanism is independent of specific DNA sequences, it is highly resistant to the development of bacterial resistance through mutations. The platform has produced clinical candidates such as PT1.2, intended for the nasal decolonization of Staphylococcus aureus (including MRSA), and PT3.9, which was developed for the intravenous treatment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections, including ventilator-associated pneumonia.