Georgian biotech company BioChimPharm has won a grant from the Georgian Innovation and Technology Agency for its innovative veterinary antimicrobial product –  PowerPhage.

PowerPhage is the world’s first natural antimicrobial effective in fighting harmful bacteria such as Salmonella, E. coli and Shigella.

The product aims to provide alternatives to the use of antibiotics in poultry and livestock production and fight against the problem of antibiotic resistance.

PowerPhage can replace antibiotics on chicken and livestock farms, the company says.

Unlike other antimicrobials such as antibiotics, phages selectively eliminate disease-causing bacteria without harming the beneficial microflora of the organism.

”PowerPhage works against antibiotic resistant bacteria and inhibits the spread of antibiotic resistance. It is 100% natural, non-toxic and biodegradable”, the head of the innovation and business development department at BioChimPharm Rati Golijashvili says.

PowerPhage is still in the final stages of development, but will go public shortly.

The company BioChimPharm (BCP) has more than 80 years of experience in developing and manufacturing phage-based, alternative antibiotic remedies. The company is engaged in the development and production of a sustainable alternative to antibiotics.

The development and research of the phage-based therapy in Georgia is connected with the Georgian physician, bacteriologist and phage researcher George Eliava (1892-1937). Together with French-Canadian scientist Felic D’Herelle, who first discovered bacteriophages, Eliava had founded a bacteriological institute in Tbilisi in 1923.  Giorgi Eliava was executed during the Stalin’s red terror in 1937.