Ghady Haidar, MD, and Daria Van Tyne, PhD, have been awarded funding in the amount of $331,002 for a two-year project by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, entitled, “Pilot study of Achromobacter bacteriophage cocktail for chronic Achromobacter respiratory tract infections.” Drs. Haidar and Van Taye will serve as Co-Principal Investigators of this project.
Achromobacter spp. are multidrug-resistant bacteria that cause decline in lung function, exacerbations, and transplant airway complications and death in persons with cystic fibrosis (CF). There is a need to identify novel therapies for Achromobacter in CF. One promising intervention is bacteriophages (phages), which are naturally occurring viruses that kill bacteria. Through the Pittsburgh Phage Project (P3) at the University of Pittsburgh, Drs. Haidar and Van Tyne have treated 15 patients with phages since 2020. Their experience has identified knowledge gaps in phage dosing and biology. In this study, the team will administer phages to 10 adults with Achromobacter lung infection. Participants in the study will be followed for approximately 7 weeks to examine how safe phages are, how they impact lung function, where the phages go in the body, whether they decrease the number of Achromobacter and other bacteria and/or alter antibiotic susceptibility, and whether the body becomes immune to phages. These results will help to improve phage therapy in treating individuals with CF and Achromobacter infections in the future.
This study will be the first to characterize the safety and biological response of phages among individuals with CF and Achromobacter infection, thereby trans- forming the field of bacteriophage therapy for individuals with CF from that of anecdote and empiricism into that of precision medicine. The team’s long-term goal is to advance their work to Phase 2 and 3 trials, and ultimately seek FDA approval of a phage cocktail should future trials meet their efficacy endpoints. By developing new treatments for a high-priority and understudied organism, this project will help advance improving the health and well-being of people with CF.
Please join us in congratulating Ghady and Daria!