It is not only according to WHO reports that there is a global increase in antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections. It is estimated that around 700,000 deaths worldwide are attributable to multi-resistant infections every year. Phage therapy is a promising alternative treatment for infections with multi-resistant bacteria.
Despite the proven efficacy of phage therapy, phages are only approved as medicinal products in some Eastern European countries. In other countries, including Germany, phage therapy can be prescribed as an individual prescription drug or as a last resort therapy. This therapy option is only used to a very limited extent due to a lack of or unsuitable production facilities.
The project objective is therefore based on an innovative production platform for phages that can be used universally for the efficient production of various therapeutic phage classes. The platform envisaged in the project has the potential to significantly shorten the development time of phage production processes.
However, the field of application of phages goes far beyond phage therapy and also includes the areas of livestock farming, agriculture, microbiome modulation, disinfection, food preservation and biofilm control.