Bacteriophage therapy for liver dysfunction; plus Genentech’s pan-TEAD inhibitor and more

A pair of independent papers in Nature Communications showed bacteriophage therapy against Klebsiella pneumoniae could alleviate liver dysfunction.

BiomX Inc. (NYSE:PHGE) and collaborators at  Keio University discovered abundant K. pneumoniae and Enterococcus gallinarum levels in fecal samples from 45 primary sclerosing cholangitis patients, and found carriers of both pathogens had high disease activity and poor clinical outcomes. The authors developed a lytic phage cocktail that targets K. pneumoniae strains derived from the stool of primary sclerosing cholangitis patients, and showed oral and intravenous administration of the cocktail in hepatobiliary injury-prone mice suppressed gut K. pneumoniae levels, as well as liver inflammation and disease severity. ...