MARCQ-EN-BAROEUL, FRANCE — Lesaffre, a global player in yeasts and fermentation, has invested $17.5 million in Baltimore-based Intralytix, Inc. The investment will allow the companies to work together to develop and commercialize bacteriophage-based products for various benefits in human health and in other areas of mutual interest. Bacteriophage is a type of virus that infects bacteria.
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| Antoine Baule, c.e.o. of Lesaffre |
“We believe that bacteriophage technology, mastered by Intralytix, offers an exciting platform for developing various antimicrobial products that will help reduce antibiotic resistance,” said Antoine Baule, chief executive officer of Lesaffre. “Intralytix is the leader in this field, and we look forward to working with their teams, developing new phage-based products and technologies and making them available to benefit customers worldwide.”
Lesaffre designs, manufactures and markets solutions for baking, food taste and pleasure, health care and biotechnology, and its investment in Intralytix builds on its ongoing expansion strategy in nutrition and health. In 2015, Lesaffre invested in Gnosis, an Italian company specializing in ingredients for the pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, cosmetic and veterinary industries.
Intralytix, Inc. was the first company in the world to receive Food and Drug Administration approval for a phage-based product for food safety applications. Intralytix currently has the largest portfolio in the world of phage-based products in commercial markets, and holds several bacteriophage technology-related patents, including two U.S. patents (and additional patents pending) for fine-tuning human or animal microbiome by using bacteriophages to reduce or eliminate bacterial colonization.
“We are delighted to have partnered with Lesaffre,” said Alexander Sulakvelidze, executive vice-president and chief scientific officer of Intralytix. “This investment solidifies Intralytix’s position as the leader in the field of bacteriophage research and commercialization, and allows us to strengthen the company infrastructure by enhancing our already superb R.&D. programs, adding high throughput robotic technologies, and expanding our state-of-the-art phage production capabilities.”
