Phage banks as potential tools to rapidly and cost-effectively manage antimicrobial resistance in the developing world

Abstract

Lower and middle-income countries seldom develop vaccines and therapeutics for their own populations and are dependent on supplies from industrialized countries, which are often hampered by financial or supply chain limitations. This has resulted in major delays in delivery with significant loss of life, as seen with the coronavirus pandemic. Since the vast majority of deaths from the antimicrobial resistance crisis are expected to occur in developing countries, there is an urgent need for in-country production of antibacterial therapies such as phages. Nationally controlled phage banks might provide such a solution since locally developed phage therapies tailored to endemic bacterial strains could offer cost-effective antibiotic alternatives.