Phagos gets €25M boost to combat bacterial diseases

Paris-based
Phagos has closed a €25 million Series A funding round, four years after its
founding. The round was co-led by CapAgro, Hoxton Ventures, CapHorn and
Demeter, with participation from Acurio Ventures, Citizen Capital,
Entrepreneurs First, Founders Capital, and Station F.

Phagos is a biotechnology company founded in 2021 by
Alexandros Pantalis and Adèle James that develops AI-enhanced bacteriophage
(phage) therapies to combat bacterial diseases. Its initial focus is animal
health, where antibiotic resistance is a major constraint, and it designs
tailored treatments that can adapt as pathogens evolve.

Bacterial infections are a leading cause of human
mortality, a major driver of animal deaths, and contribute significantly to
food waste. Antimicrobial resistance causes millions of deaths annually and
could impose substantial global economic costs by 2050. In livestock,
antibiotic effectiveness has declined markedly since 2000.

To meet this challenge, Phagos combines microbiology and
artificial intelligence in a platform designed to create precise, personalised
phage treatments. The initial focus is animal health, with the longer-term goal
of extending its approach to human health.

Phagos has filed a patent
for its AI technology, which analyses complete phage and bacterial genomes to
predict their interactions and enable scalable, targeted phage therapies. The
company has also received authorisation to market personalised phage-based
veterinary medicines, a notable regulatory milestone in treating bacterial
infections.

The co-founders emphasised that, together, the patent and
authorisation, underpinned by a platform combining microbiology and AI, position
Phagos to scale phage therapy and establish it as a global standard.

With new funding, Phagos plans to scale deployment of its veterinary
phage-therapy solutions, advance R&D to develop the next generation of its
patented AI technology, and expand its team to support platform growth and
market launch.