Growing on Solid Foundations

Antibiotics may have been the major contributor to the increase of life expectancy worldwide in the 20th century. However, bacterial pathogens have progressively adapted to become more and more resistant to available antibiotics. Pathogens resistant to almost all antibiotics are emerging both in the community and in hospitals, and are a major threat for the future. Concomitantly, the paucity of the pipeline of new antibiotics is obvious and pharmaceutical investments in the field have tremendously decreased over the last years. Reducing the emergence and spread of resistance is thus a major public health challenge, essentially addressed so far by attempts at reducing antibiotic usage and enforcing hygiene.

Da Volterra’s original approach has been to target a key factor in the development of resistance which is the emergence of resistance in the commensal, non harmful, bacteria that populate the intestinal tract of all normal subjects. This phenomenon systematically takes place following antibiotic treatments, in humans and in animals, whatever the reason and the route of administration of antibiotics. It concurs heavily to the development of antibiotic-resistant pathogenic bacteria because resistance, once it has emerged in commensal bacteria, can be readily transferred to pathogens and also because non pathogenic antibiotic-resistant commensals may sometimes become themselves pathogenic to patients with decreased natural immune defenses.

Da Volterra was created in 2000 by Professor Antoine Andremont, and developed itself initially through academic collaborations to devise the first products at an early research stage. Since 2007, Da Volterra has structured itself for growth, developing a wider portfolio of products, using a unique set of technologies, models and know-how, to become in 2009 an emerging biotech company, ready for out-licensing and partnership opportunities.