It has long been recognised that the natural characteristics of phages enable their use for treating illnesses arising from bacterial infections. Phages have exquisite selectivity for their specific host bacterium, and can kill the host bacterium upon infection.

The Adelaide Phage Therapy Centre has been established based on technology developed by the University of Adelaide and the Central Adelaide Local Health Network (CAHLN). The Centre was created in 2020 to find effective treatments for some of the most common and hard-to-treat bacterial infections – including antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections

The Centre has an expanding biobank of phages against a variety of clinically important bacteria. AusHealth is providing funding and services to establish the operations of the Centre.

The Adelaide Phage Therapy Centre is currently seeking regulatory approval for the use of this new class of antibacterial agents in humans, and anticipates being able to provide phage to hospitals and companies for use in treatment in the near future.