Phagotherapy
We often talk about antibiotic resistance in humans, but much less so in animals. The use of antibiotics in farm animals leads to the emergence of antibiotic resistance in potentially lethal bacteria.
Researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich), the Princeton Environmental Institute (PEI) and the Free University of Brussels, found that between 2000 and 2018, the proportion of antibiotics with resistance rates above 50% in developing countries soared: from 0.15 to 0.41 in chickens, and from 0.13 to 0.34 in pigs.
Multi-resistant” bacteria are becoming increasingly prevalent, which could ultimately compromise the health of livestock farms and the people who consume these animals.
Phagotherapy
Advantages of phages and phage proteins
Phages are found in nature. It is estimated that there are around 1030 phages with 108 different genomes on the planet, providing an almost unlimited reservoir of therapeutic antibacterial agents from which to draw.
Phages target an infection precisely, damaging only the bacterial cells they are designed to kill.
Lytic phages can kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Phage therapy has far fewer side effects than antibiotics.
The process using natural phages is fast and inexpensive, unlike antibiotics whose development is long and very costly.
PHAGE BANK
Our phage library
Vetophage has extensive experience in phage research and characterization. Our phage library is constantly being enriched with new phage isolates.
We currently have phages or phage proteins for the following bacteria:
Staphylococcus aureus
Streptococcus uberis
Vibrio parahaemolyticus
Escherichia coli
Staphylococcus pseudintermedius