133474Treating exacerbations in Crohn's disease: Developing a selective antimicrobial agent for microbiome engineeringClosedFeasibility StudiesInnovate UK"Procarta is an antimicrobial drug discovery and development organisation with a unique platform that is developing a new type of antimicrobial: opening up bacterial transcription as a novel target. The proprietary antimicrobials are short fragments of DNA that invade the bacterial cell and kill by blocking gene expression through a novel mechanism of interfering with transcription factors. By changing the sequence of the DNA fragment used different bacteria can be targeted, meaning that the first demonstration of the technology may lead to multiple new antimicrobials. Procarta's drugs are defined by a rapid and rational process, such as examination of genomic sequence, and can be made to be broad- or narrow-spectrum, meaning they can be used for new applications. One such is microbiome engineering. The gut microbiome is a complex mixture of varied bacteria that is thought to have a profound effect on numerous diseases, most notably inflammatory bowel disorders such as Crohn's Disease. In this case overgrowth of a family of bacteria, called the Enterobacteriaceae, is associated with increased inflammation in the intestine and severity of disease. Procarta has developed an antimicrobial, PRO-202, that can selectively kill these bacteria. By doing so it opens up a new therapeutic opportunity to improve treatment of this challenging disease."