Silk route to the acceptance and re-implementation of bacteriophage therapy—Part II

Authors

Wilbert Sybesma, Uniklinik Balgrist
Christine Rohde, Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen GmbH
Pavol Bardy, Masaryk University
Jean Paul Pirnay, Queen Astrid Military Hospital
Ian Cooper, University of Brighton
Jonathan Caplin, University of Brighton
Nina Chanishvili, George Eliava Institute of Bacteriophage, Microbiology and Virology
Aidan Coffey, Department of Biological Sciences, Cork Institute of Technology, Cork, IrelandFollow
Daniel de Vos, Queen Astrid Military Hospital
Amber Hartman Scholz, Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen GmbH
Shawna McCallin, Université de Lausanne (UNIL)
Hilke Marie Püschner, Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen GmbH
Roman Pantucek, Masaryk University
Rustam Aminov, University of Aberdeen
Jiří Doškař, Masaryk University
D. İpek Kurtböke, University of the Sunshine Coast

Document Type

Article

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Disciplines

Biology

Publication Details

Antibiotics

Abstract

© 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This perspective paper follows up on earlier communications on bacteriophage therapy that we wrote as a multidisciplinary and intercontinental expert-panel when we first met at a bacteriophage conference hosted by the Eliava Institute in Tbilisi, Georgia in 2015. In the context of a society that is confronted with an ever-increasing number of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, we build on the previously made recommendations and specifically address how the Nagoya Protocol might impact the further development of bacteriophage therapy. By reviewing a number of recently conducted case studies with bacteriophages involving patients with bacterial infections that could no longer be successfully treated by regular antibiotic therapy, we again stress the urgency and significance of the development of international guidelines and frameworks that might facilitate the legal and effective application of bacteriophage therapy by physicians and the receiving patients. Additionally, we list and comment on several recently started and ongoing clinical studies, including highly desired double-blind placebo-controlled randomized clinical trials. We conclude with an outlook on how recently developed DNA editing technologies are expected to further control and enhance the efficient application of bacteriophages.

Recommended Citation

Expert round table on acceptance and re-implementation of bacteriophage therapy; Sybesma, W.; Rohde, C.; Bardy, P.; Pirnay, J.-P.; Cooper, I.; Caplin, J.; Chanishvili, N.; Coffey, A.; De Vos, D.; Scholz, A.H.; McCallin, S.; Püschner, H.M.; Pantucek, R.; Aminov, R.; Doškař, J.; Kurtbӧke, D.İ. Silk Route to the Acceptance and Re-Implementation of Bacteriophage Therapy—Part II. Antibiotics 2018, 7, 35.