Overview - Telum Therapeutics

Advancing Human Care through Synthetic Biology and AI-Driven Antimicrobial Innovations

At Telum Therapeutics, we integrate synthetic biology and machine learning to design next-generation antimicrobial solutions. Instead of relying exclusively on naturally occurring bacteriophage lysins, we proactively identify and harness functional activity modules with inherent antimicrobial properties, regardless of their biological origin. By decoding the structural and functional properties of these modules, we engineer novel lytic enzymes with enhanced potency and stability.

Our approach leverages AI-driven protein engineering to optimize and combine enzymatic hydrolysis and substrate recognition domains, creating tailored enzybiotics with improved activity, broader bacterial targeting, and increased resistance to environmental challenges. These synthetic constructs go beyond natural lysins, even gaining the ability to kill bacterial pathogens externally.

By merging biophysics, computational modeling, and experimental validation, we are revolutionizing antimicrobial development, shaping the future of precision medicine in the fight against drug-resistant infections.

Diverse Lytic Enzymes: Harnessing Nature and AI for Next-Generation Antimicrobials

At Telum, we believe in the power of protein engineering and the potential of AI-driven machine learning to unlock new therapeutic possibilities. Nature is an unparalleled source of innovation, and we take inspiration from the best properties of natural lysins (LYS) to design and construct engineered phage lytic enzymes (EPLEs) with enhanced antimicrobial activity.

Natural phage lysins (NPLEs) are produced during the phage infection cycle or form part of the virion structure, playing a crucial role in degrading the bacterial peptidoglycan layer in two key steps: lysis from without, facilitating phage genome injection, and lysis from within, enabling the release of viral progeny at the end of the lytic cycle.

EPLEs, on the other hand, are rationally designed proteins, combining different activity modules to optimize antimicrobial efficacy, enhance stability under challenging environmental conditions, and improve therapeutic performance. FRANK represents the next step in this evolution—modifying the most active candidates by generating consensus sequences based on naturally occurring patterns, refining their structure and function.

By integrating protein chemistry and physics with machine learning, Telum is harnessing the combinatorial power of lysins and protein engineering to push the boundaries of antimicrobial research and innovation.

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