Vésale Bioscience named most innovative start-up in life sciences in Europe at tenth edition of Biofit

Namur, Belgium, December 10, 2021 – Vésale Bioscience, a biotech company specializing in phage therapy, with a particular focus on research into alternative solutions to antibiotics and the development of treatments for multidrug-resistant infections, announces today that it has been awarded the prize for most innovative start-up in life sciences in Europe during the tenth edition of BioFIT, which was held digitally from December 7–9, 2021.

BioFIT is the leading event in Europe in technology transfer, academia-industry collaboration and early-stage innovations in the field of life sciences. It is also the European marketplace for investments in seed and risk capital in life sciences. This year, 92 early-stage projects made submissions across all categories. From these, the selection committee retained 47 projects, which all pitched in front of an expert jury. In their evaluation process, the members of the jury primarily considered the impact of the innovation being developed and the company’s capacity to implement the project.

This prize shows the importance of phage therapy and confirms the contribution Vésale Bioscience’s technology is making in the fight against antimicrobial resistance. The start-up has developed Inteliphage^®, a phagogram using artificial intelligence that enables decentralized diagnostics and personalized treatment. The technology is highly responsive, providing results in three hours, an improvement on the current three-day period. The company holds a library of phages with over a hundred different references, enabling them to tailor the treatment to the patient. This technology, which can easily be reproduced in specialized centers, provides a practical solution to a global public health issue. Commercialization is set for 2023.

“We are very proud to receive this award. It recognizes the great work performed by the Vésale Bioscience team and further motivates us to pursue our research into solutions to multidrug-resistant infections, which constitute a major global public health challenge,” said Jehan Liénart, CEO and founder of Vésale Bioscience. “We are in the middle of a Series A funding round; this prize serves to validate our development choices and our credibility. It shows our future partners that they can trust our work and our phage therapy solution.”

About antimicrobial resistance

According to the WHO, antibiotic resistance is one of the greatest threats to global health

today. Resistance occurs when bacteria evolve in response to the use of antibiotics, thereby substantially impairing the effectiveness of the treatment. As a result, the bacteria become resistant and cause infections, in both animals and humans, that are harder to treat than those caused by non-resistant bacteria. The economic cost of treating patients affected by multidrug-resistant bacteria could reach $100 billion (€88.5bn) by 2025.

About Vésale Bioscience

Vésale Bioscience is a biotech company specializing in phage therapy, with a specific focus on alternative solutions to antibiotics and the development of treatments for multidrug-resistant infections. The company is a spin-out of Vésale Pharma, a Belgian market leader in R&D into microbiotic solutions.

Phage therapy is a promising solution in the fight against multidrug-resistant infections. The Inteliphage^® technology developed by Vésale Bioscience consists of a phagogram with artificial intelligence, which enables decentralized diagnostics and personalized treatment. It guarantees almost immediate results; three hours rather than three days. The company also holds a library of phages with more than a hundred different references.

Since 2020, Vésale Bioscience has been working in collaboration with the Belgian military as part of the ‘Triple Helix’ Convention between industry, the Belgian Federal Government and academia. This is a first for an R&D project into phage therapy. The research projects under development are supported by the Walloon Region’s life sciences competitiveness cluster (BIOWIN) and the Walloon public research service, allowing the company to raise €10 million ($8.56M) in grants in 2019.

Founded in 2018, Vésale Bioscience is based in Namur, Belgium, and has more than ten staff. Its team includes world-renowned experts, who have helped achieve major advances in the development of the research and the design of the production process.