Phage Therapy Unit

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Phage Therapy Unit of the Medical Centre of the Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy PAS

Phage therapy is a method of treating bacterial infections which uses unique features of bacteriophages – bacterial viruses which attack only bacterial cells. Bacteriophages (or simply “phages”) are able to destroy different bacteria including those which are resistant to antibiotics and which cause life-threatening infections. It is this exceptional feature which determines the potential of phages in treating bacterial infections. This method had been known since the beginning of the 20th century.

The Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy PAS in Wroclaw (IIET PAS) has been conducting research on the biological properties and the application of bacteriophages for several decades. It has at its disposal methods for isolating bacteriophages and for preparing phage formulations which have been provided for different hospitals in Poland for phage therapy coordinated by the institute since the 1970s. To enable the application of phage therapy after Poland joined the European Union according to current regulations the institute opened its own Phage Therapy Unit (PTU) in 2005. Its aim is the admission of patients for treatment and its provision according to the protocol approved by an independent bioethics committee.

The Phage Therapy Unit is supported by the Bacteriophage Laboratory of the IIET PAS, which carries out phage typing procedures, prepares the phage formulations for patients and performs some other tests within experimental phage therapy. Recently two branches of the Phage Therapy Unit were opened in Cracow and Czestochowa. Since the results of standard clinical trials of phage preparations enabling their registration are not available yet, this form of treatment is currently possible only under the rules of a therapeutic experiment (on the basis of the respective Polish regulations) and in accord with the Declaration of Helsinki, also regulated in Poland by the Medical Profession Act of 5th December 1996. World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki – Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects: “ 37. In the treatment of an individual patient, where proven interventions do not exist or other known interventions have been ineffective, the physician, after seeking expert advice, with informed consent from the patient or a legally authorised representative, may use an unproven intervention if in the physician’s judgement it offers hope of saving life, re-establishing health or alleviating suffering. This intervention should subsequently be made the object of research, designed to evaluate its safety and efficacy. In all cases, new information must be recorded and, where appropriate, made publicly available.” The phage therapy is conducted on an outpatient basis under the protocol of an experimental programme: “Experimental phage therapy of drug-resistant bacterial infections, including MRSA infections” approved by an Independent Bioethics Committee (opinion No. KB-349/2005 – for English translation please click here). The programme is supervised by Professor Andrzej Górski, MD, PhD – the head of the Phage Therapy Unit and the Bacteriophage Laboratory. More information about our programme of experimental phage therapy is presented in Phage therapy basis and FAQs.

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Contact to the PTU

Information:

Available in Polish or English on working days during 8:15 am – 3:45 pm.
Tel.: +48 71 370 99 01
E-mail: otf@hirszfeld.pl

Patient consultations and registration:

Phone registration is available on working days during 8:15 am – 3:45 pm.
Tel.: +48 71 370 99 01

Patient consultations in Polish or English by physicians are provided on working days during 8:00 am – 4:00 pm (Wroclaw, Czestochowa) and 3:00 pm – 7:00 pm (Cracow) only after previous registration.

Head of the Phage Therapy Unit:

Prof. Andrzej Górski MD, PhD
Tel.: +48 71 337 11 72
E-mail: agorski@ikp.pl

Phage Therapy Unit (main office in Wroclaw)

Medical Centre of the Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy PAS
Weigla 12
53-114 Wrocław, Poland
Tel.: +48 71 370 99 01 (direct) or +48 71 337 11 72 (institute’s reception)
Fax: +48 71 337 13 82
E-mail: otf@hirszfeld.pl

Location on a map

Phage Therapy Unit (branch in Cracow)

Medical Centre of the Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy PAS
Konecznego 2/4U
31-216 Kraków, Poland
Tel.: +48 12 420 60 70 (the number may be temporarily operated by an automatic answering machine)
Fax: +48 12 420 60 71
E-mail: otf.krakow@iitd.pan.wroc.pl
The rooms are located in the CAMI Clinic of Plastic Surgery and Laser Therapy (in Polish: Klinika Chirurgii Plastycznej i Laseroterapii „CAMI”) in Cracow

Location on a map

Phage Therapy Unit (branch in Czestochowa)

Medical Centre of the Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy PAS
Wały Dwernickiego 43/45
42-202 Częstochowa, Poland
Tel./fax: +48 34 534 50 00
E-mail: otf.klara@iitd.pan.wroc.pl
The rooms are located in the Klara Medical Center (in Polish: Centrum Medyczne Klara) in Czestochowa

Location on a map

Bank account for international money transfers:

Recipient:
Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy PAS
Weigla 12
53-114 Wroclaw, Poland

Recipient’s account data:
Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego, Oddział we Wrocławiu
Malarska 26
50-111 Wrocław, Poland

IBAN number for transfers in Polish zloty: PL 84 1130 1033 0018 8181 8920 0001
IBAN number for transfers in euro: PL 92 1130 1033 0018 8181 8920 0051
SWIFT: GOSKPLPW

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