Environmental and Biomedical Virology Group of the Institute of Integrative Systems Biology (I2SysBio), a joint center of the University of Valencia and the Higher Council of Scientific Research (CSIC).

The Environmental and Biomedical Virology group of the Institute of Integrative Systems Biology (I2SysBio), a joint center of the University of Valencia and the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), is a pioneer in Spain in producing therapeutic phages (bacterial viruses) with which to treat diseases caused by multi-resistant bacteria. Currently, the laboratory in which the group led by Pilar Domingo works has carried out five treatments and the sixth begins on Monday, February 5.

Bacteriophages, mostly known as phages, have been known for more than a hundred years, although, after the discovery of antibiotics, they stopped being used in Europe and America. “Currently, due to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, phages are proposed as a powerful therapy, although in the West there is still no specific regulatory framework and their use is focused on compassionate therapy,” explains Pilar Domingo-Calap. They are used in patients with chronic or persistent infections by a multi-resistant bacteria that has no available treatment.

Phages are viruses that coexist with bacteria from the beginning in a parasite-host relationship. As a consequence of their specificity, they present enormous potential as a therapy in biomedicine. "Their compassionate use in patients is having very promising results, mainly in people with Cystic Fibrosis, since they are a group especially affected by chronic bacterial infections," explains the researcher, who assures that phages "are capable of recognizing target bacteria specifically and are capable of destroying them very efficiently, including multi-resistant bacteria. We are talking about personalized medicine, it is necessary to find the phage capable of effectively killing the bacteria in the patient.”

Since mid-2023, the five phage treatments from the I²SysBio laboratory have been applied to four patients, the last a person with transplanted cystic fibrosis of both lungs, affected by aPseudomonas. aeruginosa, one of the well-known superbacteria. The phages have managed to reduce the bacterial load, improve the patient's lung capacity, and therefore her quality of life. These treatments do not have regulation today, and in this case, the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS) authorized them as compassionate treatments. The I²SysBio is postulated as the first Spanish center in the production of therapeutic phages, thanks to the protocols developed by Pilar Domingo-Calap's group. in collaboration between Pilar Domingo's laboratory and her company, Evolving Therapeutics, a spin-off of the UV Science Park focused on the use of phages to combat bacteria from a One Health approach. These treatments for patients are carried out altruistically and promote the use of phages in clinics in our country.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that bacteria that are multi-resistant to antibiotics have been, for decades, one of the greatest threats to global health on the entire planet, causing some five million deaths per year. Of them, around 20,000 are produced in Spanish hospitals, according to data from the Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (SEIMC). This figure is 20 times higher than the number of victims from traffic accidents.

Pilar Domingo has a doctorate in Biology from the University of Valencia and has been the beneficiary of a Ramón y Cajal contract in Biomedicine, where she has developed her line of research in phage therapy. She is also principal researcher of the Environmental and Biomedical Virology group.

This activity has been financed by the @adoptunfago campaign, in collaboration with the Spanish Cystic Fibrosis Federation.