Cellicon Biotechnologies

Cellicon Biotechnologies is applying a powerful technology platform to discover broad-spectrum anti-infectives based on a unique understanding of bacterial function.

Annual sales of anti-infectives exceed $20 billion annually, growing 3-5% per year due to an aging and increasingly immunocompromised population. Every antibiotic currently in widespread use is targeted at one of four bacterial cell functions: cell wall synthesis; DNA synthesis; protein synthesis, or cell metabolism. However, microbial resistance is rendering both old and new drugs aimed at these processes ineffective.

Using a unique combination of experimental and computational technologies, Cellicon's broad platform rapidly and systematically decodes cells' molecular networks. Functional maps of bacterial networks allow Cellicon to identify:

1. vulnerable nodes that can serve as new bacterial targets and
2. RNA/protein signatures, which indicate that bacterial networks have been pushed into a particular preferential state (such as death).

Cellicon uses these assets to screen for new drugs that safely and effectively kill bacteria while minimizing resistance.

Dr. James Collins, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, and Dr. Timothy Gardner founded Cellicon Biotechnologies, Inc. Dr. Gardner received his Ph.D. from Boston University in May 2000 under the direction of Dr. James Collins. A license agreement is in place between Boston University and Cellicon.

Cellicon is in final discussions with PureTech ventures to provide professional management and assist in the scientific development.

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