Phage therapy

Question

Ten years ago I have already sent a question to Vaincre la mucoviscidose (French CF patient organization) concerning the subject without a really satisfactory answer.
While antibiotic resistance is becoming a social problem why isn't the use of phage therapy further developed, even if the results seem conclusive in some CF patients or other, who do not hesitate to go to GEORGIA or POLAND in order to have a phage therapy?
Why do we not contact these specialized institutes in order to obtain collections of phages for establishing treatment? What are we waiting for to authorize the use of this therapy?
Thank you.

Answer

Hello

The use of phages against infections was developed particularly in the 1970s primarily to treat superficial wounds, such as infections occurring in burned patients. Indeed a clinical trial will start soon in this area ((clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02116010?term=phages+therapy&rank=2)

In the context of cystic fibrosis, the prospect of using phage therapy to fight against infections is interesting, especially as an alternative to the use of antibiotics. However, today, experimental studies in this area are at the basic research level.
The works done by a team from the Pasteur Institute, Paris, and funded by Vaincre la mucoviscidose, must be pursued before considering a transfer to clinical trials.
In summary, at present, no study has demonstrated the efficacy of phage therapy in cystic fibrosis. Similarly, no scientific results are available to confirm the safety of phage therapy. In the current state of knowledge, it is not reasonable to recommend that patients with CF inhale cocktails of phages.

Best regards,
Anna Ronayette

29.07.2014