UK should break licensing “impasse” and maximise the potential of bacteria-eating, life-saving viruses

In a major report the Science, Innovation & Technology Committee calls for steps to develop the potential of bacteria-killing viruses – called bacteriophages or phages for short – that can provide an alternative to antibiotics that are attracting growing resistance.

Phages have been used as therapy for over a hundred years, but interest has increased in recent years as the widespread use of antibiotics is leading to alarming antimicrobial resistance (AMR) to even the most effective treatments. But they have never been licensed for therapeutic use in the UK. They have only been used as “compassionate” treatments of last resort in isolated cases of otherwise intractable infections.