Intralytix Awarded Grant For Managing Salmonella in Food
PRESS RELEASE - 08/01/2011
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. - August 1, 2011 - Intralytix, Inc. announced today that it has been awarded a grant under a National Institute of Food And Agriculture (NIFA) / United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Grants Program for the development of a phage preparation for reducing or eliminating Salmonella contamination in foods.
Intralytix is a world leader in the development of bacteriophage or phage-based products for food safety. The company already has two FDA/USDA approved phage-based products on the market: ListShield™, effective at substantially reducing or eliminating Listeria monocytogenes on food products, and EcoShield™, effective at substantially reducing or eliminating E. coli O157:H7 on red meat intended for grinding.
"We are pleased that phage technology is being recognized by this NIFA/USDA grant," remarked John Woloszyn, Intralytix's CEO. "Phage-based antibacterials are a quickly emerging technology providing a safe, effective and all natural way to protect food from pathogenic bacterial contamination," he added. Mr. Woloszyn also noted that "phages can be effective against bacterial pathogens that have developed resistance against antibiotics."
"Salmonellae continue to be one of the leading causes of foodborne disease worldwide, causing 1.3-1.4 million cases of salmonellosis annually in the USA alone" notes Dr. Alexander Sulakvelidze, Intralytix's Chief Scientist and Principal Investigator of the SBIR grant. "This NIDA/USDA grant will help in developing a bacteriophage-based, safe, and effective approach for reducing the risk of foodborne salmonellosis" Dr. Sulakvelidze added.
Intralytix, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on using its core bacteriophage/phage technology platform to improve human health through the development and commercialization of innovative products for food safety and human therapeutics.
For more information, contact Mr. John Woloszyn (443-275-9694 or jwoloszyn@intralytix.com) or Dr. Alexander Sulakvelidze (443-2754-9689 or asulakvelidze@intralytix.com).