Bacteriophages against surgical site infections

牛津丝绸噬菌体技术公司（OSPT）正在开发一种利用噬菌体积极预防医疗设备和植入物感染的颠覆性平台技术，这在当前全球威胁抗菌素耐药性的背景下日益受到关注。在其概念验证工作的基础上，OSPT将利用其噬菌体生物纺织技术设计和生产一种破坏性的、无毒的设备，积极预防伤口内最具问题的细菌的感染和迁移。在之前的OSPT拨款中开发的用于制造材料的原型设备将在这里进行升级，以提高该项目的连续产量，并领先于临床试验生产需求。风险较低的第一个产品将成为OSPT技术后续植入式和更具挑战性应用的垫脚石。埃克塞特大学和赫特福德郡大学的两个噬菌体专家学术小组的合作对于分离、选择和表征针对4种主要耐药病原体的噬菌体至关重要。与此同时，学术合作伙伴将制定策略，使噬菌体的GMP生产更具成本效益，显著降低未来的制造成本。赫特福德大学还将采用离体皮肤模型，在最终的生物评估之前对设备进行优化和测试，这将使该项目进入临床试验阶段。最终交付将是成功测试的原型设备，具有临床试验档案和在IUK-CPI新微生物组中心生产GMP的计划。

Oxford Silk Phage Technologies (OSPT) is developing a disruptive platform technology using bacteriophages to actively prevent medical device and implant infections, a growing concern in the current context of global threatening antimicrobial resistance.Building upon its proof-of-concept work, OSPT will use its bacteriophage bio-textile technology to design and produce a disruptive, non-toxic device actively preventing infections and migration of the most problematic bacteria within wounds. The prototype equipment developed in previous OSPT grants to manufacture the material will here be upscaled to increase continuous production yield for this project and ahead of clinical trial production needs. The lower risk first product will be a stepping-stone for subsequent implantable and more challenging application of OSPT's technology.Collaboration of two bacteriophage expert academic groups at Exeter and Hertfordshire universities will be critical in isolating, selecting and characterising bacteriophages against 4 major drug-resistant pathogens. In parallel, the academic collaborators will develop strategies the render GMP production of phages more cost-effective, significantly reducing future manufacturing costs. Hertfordshire university will also adapt an ex-vivo model of skin to optimise and test the devices ahead of final biological evaluations, which will take the project to clinical trial phase readiness.The final delivery will be prototype devices successfully tested, with a clinical trial dossier and plan for GMP production at IUK-CPI's new microbiome centre.