We are seeking to join a consortium addressing the 2025 Horizon Europe topic on phage therapy for AMR infections, bringing a novel, non-antibiotic topical therapeutic – WOM-i-CARE – to complement and potentially integrate with phage-based approaches. Our teams offer expertise in formulation, preclinical development, and regulatory preparation, with a strong translational focus on sexually transmitted infections (STIs), particularly those affecting women.

Relevant expertise & alignment with call objectives:

🦠 Antimicrobial resistance:
• WOM-i-CARE does not induce antimicrobial resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae or Streptococcus agalactiae
• WOM-i-CARE does not cause antibiotic cross-resistance

🎯 Target pathogen with AMR relevance:
• Neisseria gonorrhoeae is recognised by the WHO as a critical AMR pathogen due to its rapidly increasing resistance to existing antibiotics.
• WOM-i-CARE is effective against AMR isolates of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, establishing its relevance to the call’s priority on AMR bacterial infections.

🧪 Therapeutic modality & innovation:
•While not a phage-based therapy per se, WOM-i-CARE provides a non-antibiotic, surfactant-based hydrogel with local antimicrobial action, a complementary approach that could be evaluated in combination with phage therapy.
•For Neisseria gonorrhoeae a single application of the hydrogel demonstrates significant in vivo efficacy (2- to 3-fold reduction in infection) without disturbing mucosal immunity or vaginal microbiota, strong safety signals for further clinical development.

⚙️Development stage and technical readiness:
•Current TRL 3C with proof-of-concept efficacy in animal models.
•A clear roadmap toward TRL 5–6, including toxicology (PK/PD), manufacturing, and formulation, is in place, compatible with a Horizon Europe RIA framework.

🩺Clinical and regulatory capacity:
•Supported by a Clinical Trials Research Unit, regulatory advisors, and multispecialty hospitals, positioning the team to initiate multicentre clinical trials, in line with call requirements for RCTs.
•The team includes innovation management professionals and patent protection (EP24160080.8), supporting IP strategy and regulatory compliance.

🌱Societal and gender health relevance:
•Targeting sexually transmitted infections (STIs), especially those affecting women’s reproductive health, aligns with the call’s emphasis on public engagement and gender-sensitive health innovation
No disruption of vaginal flora promotes acceptability and adherence, enhancing societal impact.

🤝 Opportunity for integration with phage therapy:
•The hydrogel could serve as a vehicle for localised phage delivery, particularly in biofilm-rich mucosal infections, thus synergising with the call’s objectives for combination therapies.
•Potential collaboration for the development of a dual-action phage-hydrogel formulation targeting resistant N. gonorrhoeae.

📢Offer to the consortium:
•Preclinical and formulation development partner with a ready-to-advance platform.
•Clinical trial design and implementation support in Portugal through the Clinical Trials Research Unit.
•Patient-centric STI therapeutic development with strong gender and SSH integration.
•Willingness to license, co-develop, or spin-off WOM-i-CARE for integration in larger phage-based therapeutic programs.

Why NOVA Medical School (NMS)?
NOVA Medical School (NMS) of Universidade NOVA de Lisboa (NOVA) is a modern and innovative Medical School in Portugal, with its mission focused on three pillars: education, research, and community. Research at NMS has a strong focus on translational research, oriented to solving current health problems. NMS ecosystem is very rich and diverse, combining clinical and biomedical researchers, nutritionists, clinicians and patients, which creates a stimulating and fertile innovation ecosystem that goes from the need to the solution, allowing the development of translational research of excellence. NMS Research´s multidisciplinary environment enables the translation of basic research findings in clinical settings and allows proven interventions to become standard practice, increasing the speed at which new treatments reach patients, and improving human health and well-being.

Partner with us to explore the lysosome as a therapeutic frontier!