Pilar Domingo-Calap (in the background) and the biologist Amanda Martínez, the first hire of the spin-off

A new spin-off from the University of Valencia will develop biotechnological solutions for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of resistant pathogenic bacteria. It will do so using a methodology based on phages and from a One Health approach, that is, interdisciplinary and global in the areas of human health, animal health and the environment. This is EVOLVING THERAPEUTICS, a company that arose from the research of its main promoter, Pilar Domingo-Calap, at the Institute of Integrative Systems Biology (I2SysBio).

Multiresistant bacteria pose a serious threat to human, animal and plant health. Restrictions on the use of antibiotics for agriculture and livestock, as well as the growing resistance of many bacteria to this type of medicine, demand the development of new strategies for the control of bacterial diseases. And bacteriophages or phages – viruses that exclusively attack bacteria – are proposed as a clearly advantageous alternative to antibiotics, both due to their high specificity and their safety for the environment.

EVOLVING THERAPEUTICS was born as a spin-off of the University of Valencia (UV) with the aim of transferring to the market a personalized environmental bacteriophage isolation system aimed at tackling this problem of antimicrobial resistance. "Phages are a very promising and personalized solution. They attack the target bacteria without altering the rest of the beneficial bacteria that the microbiota harbors, since they are very specific and ecologically safe. In addition, they co-evolve with the bacteria and adapt, without producing side effects," says Pilar Domingo-Calap, Ramón y Cajal researcher at the University of Valencia at I2SysBio and main promoter of the new spin-off.

Developed by the group of Environmental Virology and Biomedical of I2SysBio (UV-CSIC) – a team of experts in phage therapy in the fields of human health, veterinary medicine and phytopathogens –, this system owned by the UV has been transferred to EVOLVING THERAPEUTICS for commercialization, after the signing of a methodology transfer contract between both parties.

This is the first commercial offer in Spain of a One Healh personalized therapy service based on phages. Thanks to its extensive experience in the study of phages, the founding team of the spin-off will contribute by offering scientific advisory services and personalized solutions for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of pathogenic bacteria, including human, animal and plant health. EVOLVING THERAPEUTICS was also created by the Respiralia Foundation, a non-profit entity aimed at improving the quality and life expectancy of people with cystic fibrosis. Institute of Integrative Systems Biology and the nineteenth in the catalog of active spin-offs of the academic institution.