Research in support of personalized bacteriophage therapy of difficult-to-treat infections

The project aims to address key challenges in personalized phage therapy in Belgium. The Belgian personalized phage therapy framework faces challenges. A study of 260 BT requests revealed that infections were caused by over 30 bacterial species, and a similar study at IPATH identified 35 species. To target this large number of bacterial species, a large collection of potent, characterized phages is needed. Currently, the Laboratory for Molecular and Cellular Technology (LabMCT) of the Queen Astrid Military Hospital holds 40-50 certified (by Sciensano) bacteriophages targeting 14 species, but many phage therapy requests are dismissed due to unavailable or inadequate phages. There is also a knowledge gap in strategies for treating difficult infections.
This project aims to support personalized phage therapy in Belgium by addressing the following goals:
• Isolate and characterize more potent phages, targeting more bacterial species.
• Pre-adapt these phages to better target infecting bacteria in patient.
• Gain knowledge on phage-antibiotic and phage-phage interactions, bacterial phage resistance, and immune neutralization to inform treatment protocols and clinical trials.
By expanding LabMCT’s phage collection and providing evidence-based guidance, this project will help improve the availability and efficacy of phage therapy in Belgium.

The Laboratory for Molecular and Cellular Technology (LabMCT) of the Queen Astrid Military Hospital holds 40-50 certified bacteriophages as well as all facilities.

The project HFM/24-17 is funded under the DFR call.