Regulating phage therapy

I n a note published in The Lancet in December 1915, Frederic Twort described the discovery of an infectious, filterable agent that causes the glassy transformation and eventual killing of bacteria, now identified as Staphylococcus hyicus [1]. Two years later, Félix d’Herelle independently described an invisible microbe antagonistic to dysentery bacilli in a note to the Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Sciences [2]. These two reports are the first published descriptions of bacteriophages, a term coined by d’Herelle, who foresaw the therapeutic potential of these newly identified bacteriolytic agents. ...................................................... “The key issue is whether phage therapy medicinal products (PTMPs) require a marketing authorization or not.” ......................................................