Cows and Chickens

Abstract

By December 2002, Sulakvelidze, originally feeling beaten down by his meeting with the FDA, was optimistic again. Intralytix had just signed a deal with Ecolab, a major distributor of everything from soap to food safety products. The deal brought an instant infusion of much-needed cash – a total of $1 million – to the company and promised a total of $4 million on a milestone basis. Ecolab would be responsible for the packaging and distribution of all of Intralytix’s food-safety phages once they were approved by regulators. “To a degree, having a distributor is even more ­important than money, especially for a small company,” said Sulakvelidze. “You have a product, you’ve been through the hurdles, the approval process. But how will you sell it? You have to make sure the packaging is right, that your product is being used effectively. A lot of things actually start after that point.”