Objectives of the meeting
The Veterinary Biologicals Committee (VBC) of the International Alliance for Biological Standardization (IABS; for description see below) will hold a scientific workshop on quality, safety and efficacy of bacteriophages for veterinary use.
Veterinary medicine is confronted by the need to substantially reduce the use of antimicrobials as part of a joint effort by both human and veterinary medicine (One Health) to fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Bacteriophages used alone, or in combination with antimicrobials are a supplementary tool to conventional antibiotics and have been developed for use in several areas, e.g. in aquaculture, bovine mastitis, pig diarrhoea, control of salmonella in pigs, as well as for treatment of conditions in individual animals such as dermatitis in dogs.
Therefore, the workshop will focus on the use of phages to reduce antimicrobials use:
- Therapeutic use of phages in production and companions animals;
- Prophylactic use of phages with the aim to reduce infectious pressure in animal holdings.
This workshop will create an ideal environment for discussion between regulators, academics and companies to facilitate the development of phages as an additional tool to reduce AMR and as a therapeutic tool for individual/herd treatment of resistant bacterial infections.
This meeting of the different stakeholders should promote a better understanding between regulators and companies developing phages: regulators can explain the existing regulatory framework (e.g. EMA guideline and EP chapter) and discuss their interpretation; companies can explain the drawbacks/difficulties in the industrial development of phages and possible solutions. This meeting will conclude with concrete suggestions on how access to market for phage products can be improved.
