iNtRON Biotechnology, Inc. announced that New Drug Part has secured a potent anti-cancer candidate, PHAGERIA®, with broad antimicrobial activity against ETBF (Enterotoxigenic B. fragilis), a harmful microbe associated with colorectal cancer. iNtRON stated that following the proprietary development of the Robot Bacteriophage 2nd generation technology, additional in-vitro evolution technology was applied. The Company previously secured the technology to customize and edit bacteriophage genomes as desired using tailored CRISPR/Cas technology and Random Transposon Mutagenesis in 2022.

Recently, the Company has advanced this technology further to develop a more potent anti-cancer candidate, PHAGERIA®. According to the Company, in-vitro Evolution technology was employed to induce the evolution of specific genes of ETBF bacteriophages under specialized experimental conditions, resulting in the selection of PHAGERIA® anti-cancer candidates with enhanced antimicrobial activity. This achievement is significant as it is the first instance of applying in-vitro Evolution technology to ETBF bacteriophages, demonstrating the excellence of the bacteriophage gene editing technology (CRISPR/Cas) and Robotic Bacteriophage improvement platform technology of the Company.

Additionally, iNtRON identified the mutation patterns of tail fiber genes closely associated with antimicrobial activity, extracting and securing core sequences along with information about variable or invariant regions. The Company anticipates effectively utilizing this to further enhance the antimicrobial activity of future PHAGERIA® anti-cancer candidates.