Biophage Pharma signs an exclusive licensing agreement for Melisa metal allergy blood test

By Ted A. Knutson

Washington, March 1 - Biophage Pharma Inc. and Melisa Diagnostics Ltd. said Wednesday they have signed an exclusive licensing agreement allowing Biophage to offer a novel and advanced diagnostic tool for the detection of allergy to more than 20 metals and other allergenic substances.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Melisa is the first scientifically validated metal allergy blood test yet developed for the simultaneous screening of a large number of antigens and metals including various mercury compounds, nickel, lead, silver, titanium, manganese and beryllium. Metal allergy has been found to be common in patients with various diseases such as skin diseases (psoriasis, eczema), autoimmune diseases (multiple sclerosis, thyroiditis, Sjogren's disease) and gastrointestinal diseases.

Patients with symptoms of profound fatigue of unclear etiology (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) often suffer from metal allergy induced by dental amalgams.

Another major application of Melisa is in implantology and dentistry: mucosal changes around a dental filling, such as oral lichen, that may be due to an allergic reaction to its metal content. Replacement of fillings in metal-sensitive patients usually leads to decrease or even disappearance of the symptoms.

In metal sensitive patients, body implants such as hip joints, knee prosthesis, screws, pacemakers, silicone breast implants and cochlear implants may induce side effects such as pain, dermatitis, cutaneous swelling, impaired wound healing, and bone infections.

"Beryllium sensitivity testing in workers has been the focus of our efforts in the past few years, and now Melisa will open the occupational disease market for other metal allergies (like for example, manganese exposure of welders). Melisa will also have a large number of applications in general medicine, dentistry and implantology," said Dr. Rosemonde Mandeville, Biophage president and chief executive officer, in a press release.

"This technology addresses the role of metal allergy in chronic diseases like MS, rheumatoid arthritis and chronic fatigue syndrome, and can also contribute to the management of these diseases. In clinical studies on patient with metal allergies, amalgam removal and replacement with ceramic filling demonstrated a clear improvement of the health status in 71% of patients with mercury allergy, the highest rate of improvement being observed in MS patients, the lowest in patients with eczema," added Mandeville.

Melisa has been used in Europe for more than a decade.

Biophage Pharma Inc. is a Montreal-based company focused on the development of novel phage-based biosensors for live pathogen diagnostics.

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