What is phage therapy?

Phage therapy is the use of bacteriophages to treat bacterial infections.

Bacteriophages (or phages in short) are viruses that can only infect and kill bacteria. To do this, phages attach to bacteria, inject their genetic material, and take over the bacteria mechanisms to produce more phages. They then kill the infected bacterial cell to release the new phages, which will attack other cells of the same bacteria.

Why phage therapy is needed

 Antibiotics are the standard treatment for bacterial infections, saving millions of lives every year. Unfortunately, due to the abuse and misuse of antibiotics, bacteria are becoming increasingly more resistant to antibiotic treatment.

In Europe, every year 33,000 people die from having antibiotic-resistant infections. It is estimated that worldwide the number of deaths related to these bacteria will be 10 million in the year 2050 if no new solutions are found to combat these bacteria. Additionally to these numbers many more people suffer from chronic infections caused by resistant bacteria which severely affects their daily lives.

It is therefore urgent that alternatives to antibiotics are developed, with phage therapy being particularly promising due to the natural ability of phages to kill bacteria.

What are the advantages of phage therapy?

Comparing to antibiotics, phages have the advantage of being very specific to particular bacteria types, and of being able to kill bacteria that became resistant to antibiotics. 

Because phages are so specific, this also means that they:

• Are harmless to the patient;
• Do not kill the beneficial bacteria in our gut, having less side effects than antibiotics; 
• Replicate inside the bacteria they kill, which means that small doses can be effective. 

Are there limitations to phage therapy?

The specificity of phages can be very advantageous, but it also brings a challenge to phage therapy. Finding the right phage for a specific bacterial infection can be difficult, and this is why having large collections of characterized phages is critical for the success of phage therapy.

But the most important challenge is currently regulatory. Together with our medical partners were working hard behind the scenes to make phage therapy possible.

How is phage therapy administered?

Bacteriophages during phage therapy can be administered in various ways, depending on the type and location of the bacterial infection, the main ways of administering are:

• Oral: The phages are taken by mouth as a liquid, after which they are absorbed into the bloodstream through the digestive system.
• Nasal: The phages are administered via a spray or drops, effective for local nasal infections or rapid absorption through the nasal membrane.
• Topical: The phages are applied directly to the skin or mucous membranes as creams, ointments, or gels for a localized treatment.