2024-08-27 10:00:12
Treatment of bacterial infections is increasingly reaching an impasse because existing antibiotics are ineffective in the face of drug-resistant bacteria. Meanwhile, the pharmaceutical industry is working hard to find new molecules. The example of Mr. Y being hospitalized in December 2023 due to recurrence of knee prosthetic infection is illustrative. For this patient, full recovery required removal of the prosthesis and amputation. However, he was offered another option: phage therapy.
Discovered by Félix d’Hérelle in 1915 while working at the Pasteur Institute, phage therapy involves the use of specific viruses, bacteriophages, that are found naturally in the environment to eliminate bacteria in a targeted manner without damaging human cells produce harmful effects. Unfortunately, this treatment was ignored in the West in favor of antibiotics, which have a wider range of effects, while in some countries, such as Georgia, phage therapy continues to be used. However, the current lack of prospective clinical studies that formally prove the effectiveness of phage therapy remains an obstacle to the adoption of phage therapy in the medical community. However, things are changing.
In 2016, following a challenge from doctors, manufacturers and patient associations, the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Healthcare products (ANSM) held its first meeting Provisional Specialized Scientific Committee Committed to Phage Therapy (CSST). Experts pave the way “Strategies for early provision of phages for compassionate use in treatment impasses, with a clear framework for their use”.
Difficulty of access
Over the next two years, ANSM received 45 requests for phage therapy, and only a dozen patients benefited from treatment with the phages, mainly from the sole French supplier Phaxiam. In 2019, the new CSST noted that the number of patients treated remains low compared to the number of eligible cases, particularly because validated phages are not practically available. Finally you need to create a “A national platform to guide and validate phage use (…) who can ultimately commit themselves to the implementation of academic outcomes.
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