The objective of the phase I small business innovation research (SBIR) grant is to demonstrate the feasibility of using AvidBiotics’ proprietary technology to build customized antibacterial therapeutics, prophylactics and diagnostics. If successful, this could lead to a new class of commercial bactericidal agents that have unique properties against drug-resistant bacterial organisms.
The approach is based on the discovery by company co-founder Dr Jeffery Miller of a family of diversity-generating retroelements (DGRs) that function to vary in a precise manner DNA sequences and the proteins they encode. Using the DGR technology, the company will manipulate specific binding components of particular bactericidal proteins in order to effectively target multiple strains of the plague bacterium.
“The award of this grant is the first step in demonstrating and validating AvidBiotics’ novel approach to developing a new class of antibacterial agents,” said David Martin, Jr, CEO of AvidBiotics. “We shall determine whether our proprietary technologies can be effectively deployed to protect against a plague bioterrorism threat by providing effective diagnostic, prophylactic and/or therapeutics agents against weaponized Yesinia pestis bacteria.”