The research at The Phage Therapy Group is driven by the alarming increase of antibiotic-resistant pathogenic bacteria and the aim to develop alternative treatment strategies. Our research topic is phage therapy, i.e., the use of viruses that infect bacteria (phages, bacteriophages) in the treatment of bacterial infections.
The Phage Therapy Group is working on several aspects related to phage therapy: The isolation and characterization of phages, phage-host interactions in conditions that simulate the environment that phages and bacteria may face during phage therapy, and developing methods for standardized phage production and purification. Our special interests are bacterial phage resistance mechanisms, phage-antibiotic synergy, phage effect on biofilms, and testing the applicability of pharmaceutical excipients in the phage delivery to infection sites.
We have participated in phage therapy animal experiments in the reduction of MRSA and ETEC bacteria in pigs and mice and produced therapeutic phage products for compassionate phage therapy for human patients under the article 37 of the Declaration of Helsinki. We are a member of European Union (EDF) RESILIENCE: Framework partnership agreement European Strategic alliance for research, development and innovation on medical countermeasures against CBRN threats.