Describes structure of phage P7-1, included in Armata's Pseudomonas aeruginosa phage cocktail, AP-PA02
LOS ANGELES, May 4, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Armata Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE American: ARMP) ("Armata" or the "Company"), a late clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development of high-purity, pathogen-specific bacteriophage therapeutics for the treatment of antibiotic-resistant and difficult-to-treat bacterial infections, today announced a paper in Communications Biology, a peer-reviewed journal from Nature Portfolio.
The publication, titled, "Structural atlas of Pakpunavirus P7-1 reveals determinants of virion stability and genome ejection," describes the structure of phage P7-1, which is included in Armata's multi-phage cocktail, AP-PA02. Armata is developing AP-PA02 as a potential treatment for chronic respiratory infections due to Pseudomonas aeruginosa in people with cystic fibrosis (CF) and with non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis (NCFB). AP-PA02 has shown promising results in two Phase 2 clinical trials to date, SWARM-P.a. (NCT04596319) and Tailwind (NCT05616221). Armata remains focused on proving the clinical utility of phages as well as conducting bench science to deepen the knowledge of phage mechanism of action.
"Understanding the structure of our phages is an important element of our development strategy, including life cycle management of our clinical product candidates," stated Dr. Deborah Birx, Chief Executive Officer of Armata, and co-author of the paper. "This publication reflects Armata's ongoing commitment to understanding phage structure and function, enhancing our knowledge of fundamental phage biology to enable the development of novel antibacterial therapies. Importantly, the high purity of Armata's phages was essential to enabling the near-atomic snapshots achieved in these experiments using state-of-the-art cryo-electron microscopy."
Dr. Gino Cingolani, Anderson Family Endowed Chair in Medical Education, Research & Patient Care, and Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, and senior author of the paper, stated, "This study marks our third collaboration with Armata on therapeutic bacteriophages and reports the first structural characterization of a member of the Pakpunavirus genus. Using state-of-the-art cryo-electron microscopy, we captured near-atomic snapshots of Pakpunavirus P7-1, revealing with unprecedented precision how phage architecture governs function and providing a mechanistic explanation for a key property of this therapeutic phage—its stability during storage. Unexpectedly, we found that P7-1 carries two distinct sets of tail fibers anchored to the same baseplate. In the absence of a host, these fibers fold tightly along the tail sheath, nestling into grooves formed by the sheath proteins to lock the tail in place and prevent premature contraction. Upon recognition of a bacterial host, a coordinated conformational cascade is triggered: the long tail fibers engage the host and pull the shorter fibers out of their grooves, releasing the lock and initiating infection. The structural atlas of P7-1 advances our understanding of phage infection mechanisms and provides a blueprint for engineering next-generation phage therapeutics with enhanced stability and precisely tuned host specificity."
The full paper can be found here.
About Armata Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Armata is a late clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development of high-purity pathogen-specific bacteriophage therapeutics for the treatment of antibiotic-resistant and difficult-to-treat bacterial infections using its proprietary bacteriophage-based technology. Armata is developing and advancing a broad pipeline of natural and synthetic phage candidates, including clinical candidates for Pseudomonas aeruginosa, S. aureus, and other important pathogens. Armata is committed to advancing phage therapy with drug development expertise that spans bench to clinic including in-house phage-specific current Good Manufacturing Practices ("cGMP") manufacturing to support full commercialization.
Forward Looking Statements
This communication contains "forward-looking" statements as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements relate to future events, results or to Armata's future financial performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause Armata's actual results, performance or events to be materially different from any future results, performance or events expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify these statements by terms such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "should," "will," "would" or the negative of those terms, and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements reflect management's beliefs and views with respect to future events and are based on estimates and assumptions as of the date of this communication and are subject to risks and uncertainties including risks related to Armata's development of bacteriophage-based therapies; Armata's planned clinical trials; ability to staff and maintain its production facilities under fully compliant cGMP; ability to meet anticipated milestones in the development and testing of the relevant product; ability to be a leader in the development of phage-based therapeutics; ability to achieve its vision, including improvements through engineering and success of clinical trials; ability to successfully complete preclinical and clinical development of, and obtain regulatory approval of its product candidates and commercialize any approved products on its expected timeframes or at all; and Armata's estimates regarding anticipated operating losses, capital requirements and needs for additional funds. Additional risks and uncertainties relating to Armata and its business can be found under the caption "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in Armata's filings and reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), including in Armata's Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed with the SEC on March 25, 2026, and in its subsequent filings with the SEC.
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