Tobacco maker Altria Group has made its first disclosed corporate venturing deal by buying 5% of Micreos, a Netherlands-based developer of anti-bacterial phage technology.
Altria Ventures paid an undisclosed amount (but usually invests between $250,000 and $3m per deal) for the 5% stake in Micreos, which was founded last year as, unlike antibiotics and chemicals, phages kill only their target bacteria without affecting other bacteria.
Micreos’ phages already work against Listeria and Salmonella food bacteria and the company said it would be launching a new series of anti-bacterial human health products later this year, under the Gladskin brand.
Mark Offerhaus, chief executive of Micreos, said: "To meet demand for our products we are currently building the world’s first GMP-quality (Good Manufacturing Practices) phage production plant. The investment by Altria Ventures will further accelerate availability of our products."