Phage therapy – grant for the PAS institute
Consortium consisting of the Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy of the Polish Academy of Sciences and Wroclaw Medical University will verify the safety and efficacy of phage therapy in the treatment of chronic sinusitis. These research centers have just received a grant from the Medical Research Agency for non-commercial clinical trials on phage therapy.
Bacteriophages vs. sinusitis
Researchers from the Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy and the Wroclaw Medical University set themselves a goal to test bacteriophages (known as “phages” for short) in the treatment of chronic sinusitis. The disease affects a large number of people and is often resistant to treatment, especially with antibiotics. "The great challenge of modern medicine is the increasing drug resistance of bacteria, which causes an additional problem in the treatment of chronic sinusitis. Recent data indicate a significant increase in the phenomenon of drug resistance, which in the case of Acinetobacter – dangerous bacterium – reaches 80% of the increase in the number of cases, ”says Prof. Andrzej Górski, head of the Phage Therapy Center at the Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy. Professor Górski referred to the latest data published in the work Progress Against Antimicrobial Resistance Has Slipped, which appeared in the JAMA journal, published by the American Medical Association.
So far, no successful clinical trials have been conducted on phage therapy. Attempts have already been made by various foreign consortia, including Western European, American and Australian. The Wroclaw consortium will receive over PLN 15 million for its clinical research.
Phage therapy
Phage therapy is a method of treating bacterial infections that uses the unique properties of bacteriophages, i.e. bacterial viruses that attack only bacterial cells. Bacteriophages target and kill a variety of bacteria, including those that have become resistant to antibiotics.
The method of treating bacterial infections using phages has been known around the world since the beginning of the 20th century.
About the Phage Therapy Center
The first phage therapy research center in the entire European Union was set up in 2005 at the Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy in Wrocław. It conducts research on biological properties and the use of bacteriophages in therapy. Here, physicians qualify patients for experimental phage therapy, select appropriate bacteriophages and carry out treatment in accordance with a protocol approved by the bioethics committee. The center is also responsible for monitoring the patients' health status after completion of the therapy.
Read more about phages in an interview with Prof. Andrzej Górski, “Fantastic Phenomenon of Phages”, which appeared in the Academia magazine.
Source of information: Phage Therapy Center, Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences
