Current challenges and future opportunities of phage therapy

Current challenges and future opportunities of phage therapy

Pires, Diana P. (University of Minho)
Martins Costa, A.R. (TU Delft BN/Stan Brouns Lab; Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft)
Pinto, Graça (University of Minho)
Meneses, Luciana (University of Minho)
Azeredo, Joana (University of Minho)

2020

Antibiotic resistance is a major public health challenge worldwide, whose implications for global health might be devastating if novel antibacterial strategies are not quickly developed. As natural predators of bacteria, (bacterio)phages may play an essential role in escaping such a dreadful future. The rising problem of antibiotic resistance has revived the interest in phage therapy and important developments have been achieved over the last years. But where do we stand today and what can we expect from phage therapy in the future? This is the question we set to answer in this review. Here, we scour the outcomes of human phage therapy clinical trials and case reports, and address the major barriers that stand in the way of using phages in clinical settings. We particularly address the potential of phage resistance to hinder phage therapy and discuss future avenues to explore the full capacity of phage therapy.

clinical trials
One-Health
phage cocktails
phage engineering
phage resistance
regulatory framework

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:cc9f7491-0b07-4cca-9db4-340bf33837ac

https://doi.org/10.1093/femsre/fuaa017

2021-05-30

0168-6445

FEMS Microbiology Reviews, 44 (6), 684-700

Accepted Author Manuscript

Institutional Repository

review

© 2020 Diana P. Pires, A.R. Martins Costa, Graça Pinto, Luciana Meneses, Joana Azeredo