Phage Therapy for Antibiotic-Resistant Bacterial Infections

Antibiotic resistance in bacterial pathogens presents a substantial threat to the control of infectious diseases. Development of new classes of antibiotics has slowed in recent years due to pressures of cost and market profitability, and there is a strong need for new antimicrobial therapies. The therapeutic use of bacteriophages has long been considered, with numerous anecdotal reports of success. Interest in phage therapy has been renewed by recent clinical successes in case studies with personalized phage cocktails, and several clinical trials are in progress. We discuss recent progress in the therapeutic use of phages and contemplate the key factors influencing the opportunities and challenges. With strong safety profiles, the main challenges of phage therapeutics involve strain variation among clinical isolates of many pathogens, battling phage resistance, and the potential limitations of host immune responses. However, the opportunities are considerable, with the potential to enhance current antibiotic efficacy, protect newly developed antibiotics, and provide a last resort in response to complete antibiotic failure.