GREENFIELD, Ind. & CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today Elanco Animal Health, a division of Eli Lilly and Company, (NYSE: LLY) and EnBiotix, Inc., announced a collaboration to explore the application of EnBiotix’s engineered phage technology in specific animal health targets. If successful, this endeavor could result in potential alternatives for traditional antibiotics in animals.
“This collaboration furthers Elanco’s commitment to aggressively seek and develop antibiotic alternatives as outlined in our comprehensive antibiotic stewardship plan,” said Jeff Simmons, President, Elanco Animal Health. “Innovative research will be key to protecting both human and animal health while safeguarding antibiotics for future generations.”
Phage therapy is an alternative and/or complementary approach to traditional antibiotics for treating bacterial infections. Bacteriophages are naturally-occurring viruses that only infect bacteria and not humans. They self-replicate inside the bacteria, harnessing bacterial machinery for DNA and protein synthesis and ultimately killing the bacteria by lysis of the cell.
Under the terms of the agreement, Elanco and EnBiotix will collaborate in animal health therapeutic areas to identify and optimize drug candidates employing EnBiotix’s proprietary engineered phage platform. Elanco will provide research funding and will have an option to license and commercialize products arising from the collaboration. All non-animal health uses for EnBiotix’s technology platforms are excluded from the agreement.
Additional financial and other terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
“Providing alternatives to current antibiotic treatments is a key health objective and we are excited to apply EnBiotix’s engineered phage technology platform in the animal health field with Elanco,” said Jeffrey D. Wager MD, Chairman & CEO of EnBiotix, Inc. “We have been impressed by Elanco’s comprehensive antibiotic stewardship plan and they represent an ideal partner for EnBiotix in this field.”
About Elanco
Elanco, a division of Eli Lilly and Company,
provides comprehensive products and knowledge services to improve animal
health and food-animal production in more than 70 countries around the
world. With a global presence of approximately 6,500 people and offices
in more than 40 countries, Elanco anticipates, serves and supports the
diverse and evolving needs of its customers--from veterinarians to food
producers to all those concerned with animal health--to help them
address the challenges of a diverse and changing world. Together with
our customers, we are committed to raising awareness about global food
security, and celebrating and supporting the human-animal bond.
Additional information about Elanco is available at www.elanco.com,
or follow us @Elanco.
About EnBiotix
EnBiotix is an engineered antibiotics company
deploying novel systems and synthetic biology technologies developed by
Prof. James J. Collins, the Termeer Professor of Medical Engineering &
Science Professor, Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology. These technologies enable the development of
both novel antibiotics and potentiators of existing antibiotics which
have the potential to transform their spectrum of activity and
resistance profile. With drug-resistant and drug-tolerant infections
rapidly becoming a global health crisis, EnBiotix’s robust product
pipeline addresses a wide range of acute and chronic infections to
significantly impact the lives of patients. For more information, please
visit www.enbiotix.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements (as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) about the collaboration between EnBiotix and Elanco, and reflects Lilly, Elanco’s and EnBiotix’s current beliefs. However, as with any animal health product, there are substantial risks and uncertainties in the process of development and commercialization. Among other things, there can be no guarantee that the research collaboration will yield successful results, that either company will achieve the anticipated benefits, or that the results will be commercially successful. For further discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties, see Lilly's most recent Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, respectively Except as required by law, Elanco and EnBiotix undertakes no duty to update forward-looking statements to reflect events after the date of this release.
