Washington, D.C.-ASM's Health Unit is working to transform phage therapy from a fragmented, case-by-case practice into a coordinated clinical system through its Phage Therapy Coordination Network (PTCN). This system-level approach is gaining traction across the field. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently funded 3 Centers for Accelerating Phage Therapy to Combat ESKAPE Pathogens (CAPT-CEP), which aim to translate phage therapy into reliable treatments for antibiotic-resistant infections.
Among the investigators driving the CAPT-CEP effort are several ASM Health members, including Paul Bollyky, M.D., DPhil (Stanford University), Daria Van Tyne, Ph.D. (University of Pittsburgh/Pittsburgh Phage Program), Gauri Rao, PharmD, M.S. (University of Southern California) and Jennifer Schwartz, Ph.D. (Intralytix).
The CAPT-CEP network addresses a critical gap in the fight against antimicrobial resistance. The ESKAPE pathogens-Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterobacter species-are responsible for the majority of multidrug-resistant infections in healthcare settings worldwide. While phages, viruses that kill bacteria, offer significant promise, inconsistent clinical outcomes have limited widespread adoption. This program is designed to overcome those barriers by building the foundational tools, assays and models needed to standardize and scale phage therapeutics.
Coordinated Leadership Across 3 Centers
The 3 NIH-funded centers approach this challenge from complementary angles:
- Center for Phage Pharmaceuticals-Stanford University (NIAID Grant: P01AI196047), led by ASM Health member Paul Bollyky, M.D., DPhil, is the first program dedicated to phage pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics (PK/PD). The team integrates advanced imaging with cellular and animal models to optimize phage delivery, beginning with respiratory infections caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
- Pitt Center for Accelerating Phage Therapy-University of Pittsburgh (NIAID Grant: P01AI195376), co-directed by ASM Health member Daria Van Tyne, Ph.D., focuses on developing rigorous assays and tools to optimize phage cocktail design and dosing. The center leverages real-world patient data and clinical experience, supported by collaborators including ASM Health members Gauri Rao, PharmD, M.S., and Jennifer Schwartz, Ph.D., to bridge the gap between research and clinical application.
- Center for PhAIge Therapy-Gladstone Institutes (NIAID Grant: P01AI195327), led by Seth Shipman, Ph.D., applies an engineering-based approach to understand and design phage-bacteria interactions, using high-throughput experiments, deep learning models and human organoid systems.
Together, the 3 centers will share assays, reference materials and findings through quarterly cross-center scientific exchange meetings and are exploring a common National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI)-hosted database to harmonize phage data across the program. The CAPT-CEP awards mark a shift for phage therapy: from compassionate-use case reports toward standardized, reproducible, regulator-ready science that aligns closely with ASM-H's PTCN.
CAPT-CEP was established by NIAID under RFA-AI-24-069 with the goal of developing the essential assays, tools and models needed to accelerate phage therapeutics against the ESKAPE pathogens. NIAID committed $6M in FY 2026 to support 3 awards, each up to $1.2M in direct costs per year for up to 5 years.
