A Thorough Synthesis of Phage Therapy Unit Activity in Poland—Its History, Milestones and International Recognition
Maciej Żaczek,
Andrzej Górski,
Beata Weber-Dąbrowska,
Sławomir Letkiewicz,
Wojciech Fortuna,
Paweł Rogóż,
Edyta Pasternak,
Ryszard Międzybrodzki
Affiliations
Maciej Żaczek
Bacteriophage Laboratory, Department of Phage Therapy, Ludwik Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, 53-114 Wrocław, Poland
Andrzej Górski
Bacteriophage Laboratory, Department of Phage Therapy, Ludwik Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, 53-114 Wrocław, Poland
Beata Weber-Dąbrowska
Bacteriophage Laboratory, Department of Phage Therapy, Ludwik Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, 53-114 Wrocław, Poland
Sławomir Letkiewicz
Phage Therapy Unit, Ludwik Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, 53-114 Wrocław, Poland
Wojciech Fortuna
Phage Therapy Unit, Ludwik Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, 53-114 Wrocław, Poland
Paweł Rogóż
Phage Therapy Unit, Ludwik Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, 53-114 Wrocław, Poland
Edyta Pasternak
Bacteriophage Laboratory, Department of Phage Therapy, Ludwik Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, 53-114 Wrocław, Poland
Ryszard Międzybrodzki
Bacteriophage Laboratory, Department of Phage Therapy, Ludwik Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, 53-114 Wrocław, Poland
The year 2020 marked 15 years of the Phage Therapy Unit in Poland, the inception of which took place just one year after Poland’s accession to the European Union (2004). At first sight, it is hard to find any connection between these two events, but in fact joining the European Union entailed the need to adapt the regulatory provisions concerning experimental treatment in humans to those that were in force in the European Union. These changes were a solid foundation for the first phage therapy center in the European Union to start its activity. As the number of centers conducting phage therapy in Europe and in the world constantly and rapidly grows, we want to grasp the opportunity to take a closer look at the over 15-year operation of our site by analyzing its origins, legal aspects at the local and international levels and the impressive number and diversity of cases that have been investigated and treated during this time. This article is a continuation of our work published in 2020 summarizing a 100-year history of the development of phage research in Poland.
