Obulytix: next generation antibiotics inspired by nature

Obulytix, a biotechnology company based in Gent, is doing exactly that, bringing nature and artificial intelligence together to improve healthcare. Their work is focused on the discovery and development of a groundbreaking class of enzyme-based antibiotics in order to combat the most severe antibiotic-resistant bacteria. With the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance among pathogenic bacteria, the antimicrobial resistance crisis has grown into one of the greatest threats we face as a global community. “We need to introduce antibiotics that don’t allow resistance development,” explains Yves. “We need to stop this arms race with a new solution. Broad spectrum antibiotics tend to destroy our microbiome, so what we need to figure out is how to kill the bug but leave the microbiome unaffected: microbiome-friendly antibiotics.”

Obulytix is aiming to deliver effective solutions by tailoring phage lysins into powerful antimicrobials that can eradicate harmful bacteria. “You could call it molecular lego,” Yves adds. But let’s try to break down the lego pieces: Lysins are naturally produced by phages. Phages are viruses that infect bacteria. Acting like miniscule scissors that cut 1000x per second, phage lysins can efficiently degrade the bacterial cell wall, rapidly killing the bacteria. So they are natural, powerful and very efficient. “Each successful phage lysin is a unique combination of nature's building blocks. These building blocks are found in nature in a practically unlimited number and diversity.”

Leveraged by artificial intelligence, Obulytix’s platform analyses thousands of variants to develop the best possible phage lysins tailored for each clinical application. “We can basically formulate a solution per situation, per pathogen. It’s a customisation of the phage lysins to each and every job,” he explains. “We tune the specificity of the phage lysins to a single species, so they don’t kill everything. Then, once their job is done, they simply biodegrade.”

These solutions, however, have a long time-to-market. The project is still in its discovery phase, with the pre-clinical phase expected in the course of 2025 and the clinical testing planned over the next four years. In these efforts, Obulytix has been accompanied by Qbic, a venture-capital firm backed by the EIF through the InvestEU programme. Qbic invested in Obulytix in 2023.