What’s a Phage?

Bacteriophages (or phages for short), are tiny virus-type biological organisms that live all around us.  It is theorized that phages may represent more bio-diversity than any other living thing on the planet. 

Phages also have a great property: they are bacteria parasites.  That is, they feed off bacteria.  They are nature’s original antibiotic!

The trouble is, phages, like most living organisms (especially children), can be picky eaters. A given phage may only be interested in making a meal of a very particular type of bacteria. It will take an extensive scientific and business ecosystem to realize their potential to protect both ourselves and our environment from ever-more-aggressive and resistant infections.

Why Do I Care?

Bacterial disease is progressively confounding medicine as increasingly more multi-drug resistant (MDR) bacteria evolve. As many as 50,000 deaths per year in the US alone are attributed to Multi-Drug Resistant (MDR) bacterial infections, and there is broad concern that these numbers may actually be vastly under-reported.

Paradoxically, those who succumb to these “superbugs” often catch them while in hospitals and other care centers they visited for unrelated and treatable ailments such as injuries, heart disease, diabetes complications, etc. The primary current therapeutic response to MDR is the development of new antibiotics. However, without exception, MDR bacteria eventually evolve to bypass (expensive and time-consuming to develop) antibiotics.

The global market for personalized medicine market size is projected to reach over US$ 5.7 trillion by 2030, a CAGR of more than 10% per year from through 2030. At the same time, the UN World Health Organization has declared MDR bacterial infections to be one of the top ten global health threats. At the intersection of these market forces are bacteriophages (phages), tiny yet immensely useful viruses that can disrupt and even kill specific types of bacterial pathogens. Unlike antibiotics, phages are not drugs, but biological organisms that are a natural counter to bacteria.