Andrew Hammond
Co-Founder
Leads strategy, finance and operations. Former private equity analyst with deal execution and diligence experience. Built the company's production and commercial foundation from the ground up.
Bacteriophage CDMO · Utah, USA
From isolateto batchrelease.
Apitherix develops and manufactures bacteriophage for animal health and agriculture companies. Bring us a phage that works in the flask. We'll turn it into a process that holds up at volume, lot after lot.
Phage only. No other modalities.
Client-owned IP. Always.
CoA on every lot.
Production run · lot AX-0147
Logging
Phage titer
1.2 × 1011PFU/mL
- Vessel
- 14 L STR
- Elapsed
- 18.2 h
- Temp
- 37.0 °C
- Status
- Harvest
Phage only · no other modalitiesTypical titer 10¹¹ PFU/mLPeak run 10¹³ PFU/mL1–14 L stirred-tank productionCertificate of analysis on every lotClient-owned IP and processLiquid and freeze-dried formatsPlaque assay · qPCR · bioburdenBuilt in Utah, USAPhage only · no other modalitiesTypical titer 10¹¹ PFU/mLPeak run 10¹³ PFU/mL1–14 L stirred-tank productionCertificate of analysis on every lotClient-owned IP and processLiquid and freeze-dried formatsPlaque assay · qPCR · bioburdenBuilt in Utah, USA
Most phage programs stall at manufacturing.
Phage science is moving fast. Producing it consistently, at volume, with documentation a buyer trusts is where most programs get stuck.
Scale
Titer drops at volume
A phage that hits 1010 in a shake flask can lose orders of magnitude in a vessel. Host density, multiplicity of infection and harvest timing all need re-tuning.
Purity
Purification gets expensive
Removing host debris and endotoxin without losing active phage takes a downstream train built around your phage.
Stability
Shelf life is unproven
Activity lost in storage and shipping quietly erodes the dose your customer actually receives.
Consistency
Every lot has to match
Partners expect the same titer, purity and paperwork on lot 40 as on lot 1.
How phage works, in plain English.
Phages are natural viruses that only attack bacteria. They can't infect people, animals, plants or bees. Each one is built to go after a single kind of bacteria, which makes phage a precise alternative to antibiotics.
01 / 040 min
01 · Find
It finds its target
A phage drifts until it bumps into the one type of bacteria it's built for. It ignores everything else, including the good bacteria an animal, crop or hive depends on.
- Goes after
- One kind of bacteria
- Leaves alone
- People, animals, plants, bees
02 · Latch on
It slips its instructions inside
The phage latches onto the bacterium and injects its DNA, a bit like loading new software onto a computer. From that moment, the bacterium works for the phage.
- Takes
- About a minute
- Result
- Bacterium taken over
03 · Copy
The bacterium builds more phages
Instead of growing and spreading, the bacterium is tricked into building new phages, piece by piece.
- Takes
- About 20–30 minutes
- Result
- Dozens to hundreds of copies
04 · Burst
It bursts, and the cycle repeats
The bacterium breaks open and releases the new phages, which go find the next target. Once the harmful bacteria are gone, the phages have nothing left to infect and naturally fade away.
- Result
- Harmful bacteria cleared
- Afterward
- Phages die off on their own
Where we come in
We run this same cycle in steel tanks, billions of times over, then purify the phages and package them into a product our partners can sell. Doing that consistently, batch after batch, is the hard part.
Everything between your isolate and a released lot.
Use us for one stage or the whole path. Every capability is built specifically for lytic phage and the hosts they grow on.
Host and strain development
Host selection, banking and characterization, with phage purity and lytic profile confirmed before any process work begins.
Master & working banksHost range
Upstream process development
Media, multiplicity of infection, inoculation timing and harvest windows tuned for maximum titer on your specific phage–host pair.
MOI optimizationSmall-scale models
Scale-up fermentation
Controlled stirred-tank production with continuous logging of pH, dissolved oxygen, temperature and agitation.
1–14 L STR1010–1011 PFU/mL
Downstream purification
Clarification, filtration and concentration designed around your phage's stability, so purity goes up without activity going down.
Centrifugation0.22 µmTFF
Formulation and stability
Liquid and freeze-dried formats, backed by real-time and accelerated stability studies that tell you what your label can promise.
LyophilizationStability studies
Analytics and release testing
Every lot is titered, identity-confirmed and checked for bioburden, then released with a certificate of analysis.
Plaque assayqPCRCoA per lot
A clear path from your bench to our line.
Five stages, each with a defined deliverable and a decision point. You always know where your program stands and what comes next.
01
Feasibility
We grow your phage on its host, confirm titer and find what's limiting it.
- Typical timing
- 2–4 weeks
- You receive
- Feasibility report with a go or no-go
02
Process development
Upstream and downstream parameters locked for your phage.
- Typical timing
- 6–12 weeks
- You receive
- Defined process and analytical methods
03
Tech transfer and scale-up
Engineering and confirmation runs at production scale.
- Typical timing
- 4–8 weeks
- You receive
- Confirmation batches and batch records
04
Commercial manufacturing
Scheduled production against your forecast.
- Typical timing
- Ongoing
- You receive
- Supply agreement and reserved slots
05
Release and supply
Testing, documentation and cold-chain shipping on every lot.
- Typical timing
- Every lot
- You receive
- Certificate of analysis and full traceability
We manufacture our own.
Apitherix runs its own phage programs on the same equipment, methods and quality system we offer partners. Our first product has been in commercial use for years. Every process we sell has already been run for real, at production scale, for paying customers.
1011PFU/mL
Typical production titer
1013PFU/mL
Peak recorded production run
1,000,000+
Doses manufactured
20+
Commercial operators supplied
The field is moving
Phage is moving from the margins to the mainstream.
Antibiotic resistance is forcing medicine and agriculture to look for precise alternatives. Phage now has randomized trial data, regulator engagement and public funding behind it. Here is the research we follow, including the honeybee work we build on.
77.2%
Of infections improved clinically across 100 consecutive personalized phage cases.
Nature Microbiology, 2024 ↗88% vs 58%
Clinical response with phage versus placebo in a Phase 2a S. aureus bacteremia study.
IDWeek, 2025 ↗A century of phage, accelerating.
1917Discovery
Félix d'Herelle identifies viruses that destroy bacteria and names them bacteriophages.
Source ↗2006First food approvalFDA approves a phage preparation against Listeria on ready-to-eat meats.
Source ↗2016Clinical restartA personalized phage cocktail treats a resistant Acinetobacter infection at UC San Diego.
Source ↗2019Engineered phageGenetically engineered phages are used in a patient for the first time.
Source ↗2021Spore bindingBYU's Hope lab shows P. larvae phages bind to and stay infectious on bacterial spores.
Source ↗2024100-case evidencePersonalized phage therapy improves 77% of infections across 100 consecutive cases.
Source ↗2025Toward Phase 3A phage cocktail beats placebo in a Phase 2a S. aureus bacteremia study; FDA agrees on Phase 3.
Source ↗2026Public fundingThe EU funds two €15M randomized phage trials for recurrent urinary infections.
Source ↗
Dr. Sandra HopeScientific Advisor · BYU
Rooted in a decade of honeybee phage research.
Dr. Hope built Brigham Young University's honeybee phage program from the ground up. Her lab isolated and sequenced the phages, mapped their genomes and showed they bind to bacterial spores. That science is the foundation our production methods are built on.
Full publication list- 2021Phages bind to vegetative and spore forms of Paenibacillus larvae and to vegetative Brevibacillus laterosporusFrontiers in Microbiology · Brady, Roll, Walker, Fajardo, Breakwell, Eggett, Hope
- 2018Bystander phage therapy: inducing host-associated bacteria to produce antimicrobial toxins against the pathogen using phagesAntibiotics · Brady et al., BYU
- 2018Bacteriophages for treating American foulbrood and the neutralization of Paenibacillus larvae sporesBYU ScholarsArchive · T. Scott Brady
- 2018Genomic analysis of 48 Paenibacillus larvae bacteriophagesViruses · Stamereilers, Fajardo, Walker, Grose, Hope, Tsourkas, et al.
- 2014Characterization of Paenibacillus larvae bacteriophages and their genomic relationships to firmicute bacteriophagesBMC Genomics · Merrill, Grose, Breakwell, Hope
- 2014Genomic comparison of 93 Bacillus phages reveals 12 clusters, 14 singletons and remarkable diversityBMC Genomics · Grose, Jensen, Hope, Breakwell
- 2014A broadly implementable research course in phage discovery and genomics for first-year undergraduate studentsmBio · Jordan, Hope, et al.
- 2013Complete genome sequences of five Paenibacillus larvae bacteriophagesGenome Announcements · Sheflo, Gardner, Merrill, Breakwell, Grose, Hope, et al.
- —The next generation in disease controlBee Culture · Gerry Hayes
- 2016BYU's bee team successfully treats honeybee lossBYU Daily Universe · BYU
Research library
Medicine2026
€15M randomized trial of personalized phage therapy for recurrent E. coli UTIs
About 220 women across 13 countries, phage versus placebo alongside one IV antibiotic dose.
Horizon Europe · P-PEAKS UTI consortium↗Medicine2026€15M project pairing phage therapy with microbiome restoration
A five-year multicenter randomized trial for recurrent urinary tract infections.
Horizon Europe · REPhRAME, Universitätsmedizin Frankfurt↗Medicine2025Phase 2a diSArm study of phage cocktail AP-SA02 in S. aureus bacteremia
88% clinical response with phage versus 58% with placebo at test of cure.
IDWeek 2025 · Armata Pharmaceuticals↗Medicine2025FDA agrees Phase 2a data support advancing AP-SA02 to a Phase 3 superiority study
One of the first phage programs cleared to plan a pivotal trial in the U.S.
FDA end-of-phase-2 · Armata Pharmaceuticals↗Medicine2025Considerations and perspectives on phage therapy from the transatlantic taskforce on antimicrobial resistance
U.S. and EU agencies set out the path for phage therapy regulation.
Nature Communications · Transatlantic Taskforce on AMR↗Medicine2024Personalized bacteriophage therapy outcomes for 100 consecutive cases
Clinical improvement in 77.2% of infections and eradication in 61.3% across a multinational cohort.
Nature Microbiology · Pirnay et al.↗Engineered phage2024CRISPR-Cas3-armed phage cocktail LBP-EC01 in uncomplicated UTI, phase 2 part 1
Urinary E. coli fell within four hours; no serious adverse events.
The Lancet Infectious Diseases · Locus Biosciences, ELIMINATE trial↗Engineered phage2024Engineered phage with antibacterial CRISPR-Cas selectively reduce E. coli burden in mice
Designed phages that cut the target's own genome, sparing the rest of the microbiome.
Nature Biotechnology · Gencay et al., SNIPR Biome↗Medicine2023Phage therapy: from biological mechanisms to future directions
The definitive modern review of how phage therapy works and where it is going.
Cell · Strathdee, Hatfull, Mutalik, Schooley↗Agriculture2023An overview of the use of bacteriophages in the poultry industry: successes, challenges, and possibilities
Phage against Salmonella and Campylobacter from farm to processing.
Frontiers in Microbiology · Review↗Medicine2022Global burden of bacterial antimicrobial resistance in 2019: a systematic analysis
1.27 million deaths directly attributable to resistant bacteria in a single year.
The Lancet · Antimicrobial Resistance Collaborators↗Agriculture2021A four-phage cocktail prevents and treats Pierce's disease in grapevines
Greenhouse vines were protected and established infections were stopped.
Texas A&M AgriLife · Gonzalez, Young, Das, et al.↗Agriculture2020Efficacy of XylPhi-PD for reduction of Pierce's disease in vineyards: 2020 field trial results
Commercial phage biocontrol tested in working vineyards.
American Society for Enology and Viticulture · Kinkhabwala, Rupert, et al.↗Apiculture2020Phages in therapy and prophylaxis of American foulbrood: recent implications from practical applications
A review of phage use against the most destructive bacterial disease of honeybees.
Frontiers in Microbiology · Jończyk-Matysiak et al.↗Apiculture2020Paenibacillus larvae bacteriophages: obscure past, promising future
The history and outlook for honeybee phage therapy.
Microbial Genomics · Tsourkas↗Medicine2019Phage therapy: a renewed approach to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria
Why phage is back on the clinical agenda.
Cell Host & Microbe · Kortright, Chan, Koff, Turner↗Engineered phage2019Engineered bacteriophages for treatment of a patient with a disseminated drug-resistant Mycobacterium abscessus
First therapeutic use of genetically engineered phages in a patient.
Nature Medicine · Dedrick et al.↗Agriculture2018Framing the future with bacteriophages in agriculture
A field-wide review of phage for crops, livestock and food.
Viruses · Svircev, Roach, Castle↗Food safety2018Bacteriophage applications for food production and processing
Where phage is already used commercially across the food chain.
Viruses · Moye, Woolston, Sulakvelidze↗Medicine2017Personalized bacteriophage cocktails to treat a patient with disseminated resistant Acinetobacter baumannii
The UC San Diego case that restarted phage therapy in the U.S.
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy · Schooley et al.↗Agriculture2017Bacteriophages and bacterial plant diseases
How phage biocontrol is being applied against plant pathogens.
Frontiers in Microbiology · Buttimer et al.↗Food safety2006FDA OKs using viruses to fight Listeria in meat
The first FDA approval of phage as a food additive.
CIDRAP · U.S. FDA↗Origins1917Discovery of the bacteriophage
d'Herelle names the 'bacteria-eaters' and soon begins treating patients with them.
Comptes rendus · Félix d'Herelle↗Links go to the original journal, registry or news source. Apitherix is not affiliated with the third-party companies and trials listed.
Built for animal health and agriculture.
We focus where phage is closest to market today: programs replacing or reducing antibiotics and chemical controls.
Animal health
Partner programsCompanion animal and livestock programs looking for targeted alternatives to antibiotics.
Apiculture
In productionWhere we started. Our own products support commercial honeybee operations today.
Crop protection
Partner programsPhage biocontrol for bacterial disease in orchards, vineyards, greenhouses and row crops.
Aquaculture
Partner programsTargeted bacterial control for fish and shellfish production.
Food safety
Partner programsProcessing-stage applications against foodborne bacteria.
Facility and quality.
A purpose-built phage lab in Utah. Every run is logged, every lot is traceable, and every release is backed by data you can see.
- Upstream
- Stirred-tank bioreactors with logged pH, DO, temperature and agitation 1–14 L working vol.
- Typical titer
- Process dependent; peak runs recorded at 1013 1010–1011 PFU/mL
- Clean workspace
- Laminar flow workstations with HEPA filtration and UV decontamination ISO 5
- Downstream
- Centrifugal clarification, sterile filtration and tangential flow concentration 0.22 µm · TFF
- Formulation
- Liquid concentrate and lyophilized powder formats Freeze-dry
- Analytics
- Double-agar plaque assay, real-time qPCR, spectrophotometry, bioburden Every lot
- Storage
- Ultra-low, frozen and refrigerated storage with continuous temperature logging −80 / −20 / 4 °C
- Documentation
- Batch records, full lot traceability and a certificate of analysis on every release CoA per lot
The team.
Operators and scientists who have already taken a phage product from the lab to paying customers.
Nathan McDougal
Co-Founder
Leads sales, business development and partner relationships. Background in private equity and aviation finance. Owns every client engagement from first conversation through supply agreement.
Dr. Sandra Hope
Scientific Advisor
Professor of Microbiology at BYU with a PhD and MBA. Guides process science, titration methods and quality standards across our programs.
Leslie M. Ewool, M.S.
Microbiologist
M.S. in Microbiology and Molecular Biology from BYU, with graduate research in bacteriophage genomics. Brings hands-on molecular biology and laboratory quality experience to our phage production, characterization and release testing.
Three ways to work with us.
Most partners start with a development program and move into supply. Some reserve capacity from day one.
Project-based
Development programs
Scoped projects with fixed milestones and clear deliverables, from feasibility through a locked, transferable process.
Best forTeams with a promising phage and no production process yet
Per batch
Manufacturing supply
Production at a set price per batch, released with full lot documentation and shipped cold-chain to your facility.
Best forProducts that are ready to sell and need dependable supply
Quarterly
Reserved capacity
Guaranteed slots on our production schedule each quarter, so your launch never waits in someone else's queue.
Best forPartners with a forecast and a launch date to protect
Your phage stays yours.
Contract manufacturing runs on trust. These commitments are written into every agreement we sign.
You own your process
Your phage, your process and your data belong to you, in writing.
Open batch data
Titers, QC results and deviations are shared on every lot, including the bad ones.
Pricing you can plan around
Quoted up front, per stage and per batch. No surprise change orders.
Founders on the phone
You work directly with the people who run the lab, not an account manager three steps removed.
Free to leave
Every agreement includes a clean tech-transfer-out clause. We'd rather earn the renewal.
Start a project
Tell us about your phage.
Share a few details and we'll reply within two business days. Nothing confidential is needed at this stage.
- We review your program and reply with initial questions.
- We sign a mutual NDA and hold a technical call.
- You receive a scoped proposal with timing and pricing.