A CURE FOR THE AGES
Bacteriophages like those that saved Tom Patterson were first discovered in Europe in the early 1900s . The first known therapeutic use of phages occurred in 1919 , when Felix d ' Herelle ( pictured below ), a microbiologist at the Institut Pasteur in Paris , cured a 12-year-old boy with severe dysentery .
Research continued through the 1920s and ’ 30s , and though phage pharmaceuticals were made for wounds and upper respiratory illness , the selectivity of the virus made its use questionable . With the advent of antibiotics , phage therapy declined in the U . S . and most of Europe , and only regions with limited access to antibiotics ( Russia , Poland and Georgia ) pursued phage therapy and research .
Western scientists rediscovered phages in the 1980s , with the growing threat of antibiotic-resistant bacteria . Several phase I clinical trials have reported no adverse effects , yet most trials focused on oral or topical use . Patterson is one of very few patients in the U . S . and Europe to have received successful intravenous phage therapy .
ON THE MEND After several months in and out of a coma , Patterson would lose over 100 pounds and require much physical therapy upon recovery .
decide to try phage therapy , but they will need help . With an estimated ten million trillion trillion ( 10 31 ) bacteriophages in the world , finding the right strain is looking for a needle in a trillion haystacks .
They find a scientific community at the ready — all across the country , in people and places they do not always know . Ultimately , their phage hunt results in three partners with phages deemed active against Patterson ’ s bacterial infection : the U . S . Navy ’ s Biological Defense Research Directorate in Frederick , Md .; the Center for Phage Technology at Texas A & M University ; and AmpliPhi , a San Diego-based biotech company specializing in bacteriophage-based therapies .
Some of the phages , remarkably , are derived from sewage . When samples arrive , the team partners with microbial ecologists at San Diego State University to purify them for clinical use . Many phage strains are combined in “ cocktails ” to confound bacterial resistance .
There is a sense of urgency . In an unprecedented matter of days , the Food and Drug Administration grants Schooley emergency approval to use the phages . Strathdee ’ s hand shakes as she signs the release forms . Everyone understands this may be Patterson ’ s last chance .
But it may also be a first . As far as UC San Diego researchers and doctors know , what they plan to do has never been done before . In most cases , phages are administered orally or topically to
38 TRITON | FALL 2017