Azitra “announced preclinical data from the Company’s platform and pipeline. The data will be presented on Friday, May 10, 2024, in two oral sessions entitled “Engineered Staphylococcus Epidermidis as a Protein Delivery System for Treating Skin Diseases” and “Staphylococcus epidermidis Strain Expressing LEKTI-D6 for Netherton Syndrome.” ATR-12 is an engineered strain of S. epidermidis that expresses a fragment of human lympho-epithelial Kazal-type-related inhibitor (LEKTI) protein, which is missing in patients with Netherton syndrome, a chronic and sometimes fatal disease of the skin estimated to affect approximately one to nine in every 100,000. ATR-12 has been engineered to deliver missing LEKTI protein when applied topically to Netherton syndrome patients. Azitra has an open IND for a Phase 1b clinical trial in adult patients. The data in the abstracts released online today show that topical application of ATR-12 in preclinical models reduced produced reduced IL-36gamma by 93% compared to skin extracts induced to overexpress IL-36gamma. Additionally, topical application of ATR-12 significantly reduced protease activity in skin samples compared to a Netherton syndrome model skin. Finally, ATR-12 produced higher amounts of LEKTI compared to topical application of LEKTI protein alone (6.0 microgram vs. 2.3 microgram, respectively, pless than0.01) after 24 hours and resulted in deeper skin penetration of LEKTI.” “We are thrilled to announce new preclinical data for our precision dermatology platform that demonstrate proof-of-concept data supporting the use of genetically engineered skin commensals to deliver proteins to the skin,” said Travis Whitfill, Azitra’s co-founder and COO. “These data show the robust preclinical activity of ATR-12 in Netherton syndrome models and further supports the rationale behind our Phase 1b clinical trial in Netherton syndrome patients.”