Using phages to fight antimicrobial resistance

• Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing concern, with an estimated five million people dying annually due to AMR.

• Pharmaceutical companies have lost interest in developing new antibiotics due to AMR, leading to sparse use and lack of financial incentive.

• Bacteriophages, naturally preying on bacteria, are being rediscoverd due to AMR.

• Phages have been used for various infections, including burns, foot ulcers, and urinary tract infections.

• Two main strategies include isolating bacteria, testing phages in lab, growing more of them, and administering them to the patient.

• No Western government has approved phages as a drug, but they may be accessible through “compassionate use,” “emergency-use expanded access,” or “special access” routes.

• A potential solution is the Pirnay route, which involves creating a device that isolates bacteria, sequences its genome, uses AI to determine the most likely phage genome, creates the phage from scratch, and administers it to the patient.

• The Pirnay route could be a grand challenge for microbiologists, as AMR is a significant issue requiring large initiatives.