Armata Pharmaceuticals Announces New Publication That Advances Understanding of Phage Biology to Support Development of Next-Generation Antibacterials

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 3, 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 the Journal of Molecular Biology, a peer-reviewed journal.

The publication, titled "Insights into Genome Ejection by a Therapeutic phiKMV-like Bacteriophage," presents an integrative structural atlas of Ar-KM, a phiKMV-like bacteriophage that targets Pseudomonas aeruginosa ("P. aeruginosa"), the pathogen addressed by Armata's AP-PA02 program. AP-PA02 is an inhaled bacteriophage product candidate that has completed Phase 2 clinical studies in both cystic fibrosis ("CF") and non-CF bronchiectasis ("NCFB") patients with chronic pulmonary P. aeruginosa infection. Using cryo-electron microscopy, proteomics, and bioinformatics, the researchers captured three distinct states of the phage particle from a single purified preparation and built atomic models for eleven structural proteins at near-atomic resolution. The work explains how Ar-KM keeps its genome securely packaged before infection, identifies an enzyme activity that helps the phage penetrate the bacterial cell envelope, and characterizes a previously unrecognized protein that enables the coordinated release and delivery of the genome into the bacterium.

"Stability before infection and efficient genome delivery at the point of infection are fundamental characteristics of a viable phage therapeutic, and this work provides important new insight into how Ar-KM can achieve both," said Dr. Deborah Birx, Chief Executive Officer of Armata, and co-author of the paper. "More broadly, our collaboration with Dr. Cingolani's group is helping us build a deeper understanding of the structural biology and mechanisms that underpin phage activity and can inform the rational development of our anti-infective pipeline. This marks the fourth publication from our collaboration and the fourth characterizing our Pseudomonas aeruginosa phages, and we are now extending this work to cryo-EM reconstruction of our proprietary Staphylococcus aureus phages. The exceptional resolution achieved in these studies is also supported by our proprietary purification processes, which enable the high quality pure phage preparations required for high-resolution structural analysis. We believe applying these capabilities across our portfolio can strengthen our understanding of phage mechanism of action and support the development of differentiated therapies targeting difficult-to-treat pathogens."

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 builds on our productive collaboration with Armata and provides a detailed structural view of Pseudomonas phage Ar-KM (Armata phiKMV-like), a bacteriophage that has advanced through clinical development as a therapeutic candidate against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Using state-of-the-art cryo-electron microscopy, comparative genomics and mass spectrometry, we characterized Ar-KM at near-atomic resolution and gained new insight into how its structure enables it to remain stable before infection while rapidly delivering its genome once it encounters a bacterial host. We found that Ar-KM securely packages its genetic material within the phage particle and then undergoes a coordinated series of structural changes that enable the genome to be released and delivered into the bacterium. We also identified an enzymatic activity that helps the phage penetrate the bacterial cell envelope, an important step in the infection process."

Dr. Cingolani added, "Together, these findings provide a clearer understanding of how Ar-KM remains stable until it reaches its target and then efficiently transitions into infection mode. These insights also help connect the fundamental biology of the phage with characteristics important to the development of effective phage therapies, including stability, infectivity and efficient genome delivery."

The full paper (J Mol Biol. 2026 Nov 1; 438(21):169993) 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 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.

Armata expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in Armata's expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based.

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SOURCE Armata Pharmaceuticals, Inc.