Bacteriophage Therapy

Bacteriophage Therapy designates the use of viruses that specifically infect and kill bacteria as an alternative or adjunct to conventional antibiotic treatment, exploiting the natural predator-prey relationship between bacteriophages and their bacterial hosts to selectively eliminate pathogenic microorganisms without disrupting the broader human microbiome.

The biopharmaceutical industry is actively revisiting bacteriophage therapy as antibiotic resistance reaches crisis levels. Personalised phage cocktails targeting specific bacterial strains causing chronic or drug-resistant infections have demonstrated efficacy in compassionate use cases. Manufacturing challenges include producing sufficient phage titres under GMP conditions, ensuring phage stability, and rapidly identifying appropriate phages for patient-specific bacterial isolates. Regulatory pathways remain under development, with agencies evaluating phage therapy under existing frameworks for biological products. As clinical evidence accumulates and standardised manufacturing approaches mature, bacteriophage therapy continues emerging as a promising strategy against multidrug-resistant pathogens.