Research Problem
First discovered in 1928 by Alexander Fleming, antibiotics have been used as antimicrobial drugs to eliminate disease-causing bacteria. Years of successful application has demonstrated the efficiency of antibiotics for preventing and treating bacterial infections. However, with growing popularity also came an environmental pressure for bacteria to evolve resistances to these miracle cures. First reported in the early 1940s as a result of penicillin treatments, antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria have appeared over the decades. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that, in the United States alone, at least 2 million people develop a bacterial infection that is resistant to antibiotics, of which 23,000 are fatal.
The antibiotic industry has slowed to a standstill over the years as the net present value for developing antibiotics has lagged well behind that of other pharmaceuticals. Additionally, due to the extent of antibiotic resistance, discovering novel mechanisms by which antibiotics act is timely and expensive. As the threat of bacterial infection looms, a new approach is necessary. For this reason, many around the world have looked towards bacteriophages as an alternative to antibiotics. Having a distinct specificity for bacterial targets, lytic phages would be able to identify and destroy bacteria while proliferating in whatever system they find themselves acting as a preventative measure as well as treatment. However with limited literature on efficiency in vivo and in vitro, more research is required before it can be implemented as a therapeutic agent.
The antibiotic industry has slowed to a standstill over the years as the net present value for developing antibiotics has lagged well behind that of other pharmaceuticals. Additionally, due to the extent of antibiotic resistance, discovering novel mechanisms by which antibiotics act is timely and expensive. As the threat of bacterial infection looms, a new approach is necessary. For this reason, many around the world have looked towards bacteriophages as an alternative to antibiotics. Having a distinct specificity for bacterial targets, lytic phages would be able to identify and destroy bacteria while proliferating in whatever system they find themselves acting as a preventative measure as well as treatment. However with limited literature on efficiency in vivo and in vitro, more research is required before it can be implemented as a therapeutic agent.
Our Solution
Given that the main problem with phage therapy is a lack of basic research, we plan on evaluating different approaches to developing therapeutic phage cocktails. Identifying what methods result in a product that best complies with FDA regulations will allow for the streamlined generation of phages that can quickly progress to clinical trials. Aside from decreasing dependence on antibiotics, the introduction of phage based therapeutics will also provide alternatives for those individuals with drug allergies.