ASM Annual General Meeting 2019 – Update

Thank you to everyone who attended and participated in the SIG’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) that was run at this years’ Australian Society for Microbiology (ASM) conference in Adelaide. A special thanks to Karen Weynberg and Carola Venturini for chairing and taking minutes for the meeting, respectively. Please see below a list of meeting notes from the AGM.

Bacteriophage biology SIG Meeting – ASM 2019 – Adelaide, Monday 1^st July

Meeting start 12:56 pm

Executive committee members present: Karen Weynberg; Carola Venturini. Lucy Furfaro on behalf of Matt Payne.

Chair: K Weynberg for Jeremy Barr. Minutes: C Venturini.

Approximately 15 attendees.

SIG Introduction and updates:

Karen Weynberg opened the meeting with introductions of the state representatives in attendance and outline of SIG mission to attendees. Briefly, the major points covered were;

·      SIG members is currently at 36

·      Brief description of the blog site, with specific opportunities for Early & Early-Mid Career Researchers (ECR & EMCRs) to contribute a blog post by contacting Jeremy Barr (jeremy.barr@monash.edu)

·      Summary of blog performance over past year (attract >100 views per post)

·      Lucy Furfaro (WA rep on behalf of Matt Payne) mentioned availability of small funding packets to support phage research in WA.

·      Carola Venturini (NSW) introduced Dr. Sandra Morales to attendees as a SIG member from industry (Armata Pharmaceuticals).

·      Karen Weynberg (QLD) listed upcoming national and international meetings for phage research and application (see previous SIG post for list of conferences)

Major Discussion Points:

Legislation of Phage Therapy

Prof. Jon Iredell (Uni Sydney & Westmead) and Dr. Sandra Morales (Armata) led a discussion on the issue of legislation and industry engagement across the phage therapy process. One of the major hurdles that was highlighted was that of finding investment partners to support the process. Sandra described the Eliava Phage Therapy Institute’s experience with phage applications and therapy and summarised the current approaches to regulation by the FDA (US) and the EMA (EU), touching on the problems of IP issues in phage products.

Jon added a brief summary of the experience at Westmead Institute with respect to approaching Government agencies for regulatory requests. There was a strong emphasis on the importance of establishing a national network for phage research and applications in Australia with anticipation of upcoming funding calls.

Bacteriophage Workshop

Karen Weynberg proposed the idea of a BBT SIG workshop to facilitate networking and collaborations between phage and microbiology researchers within Australia. There was no immediate suggestion for the format, although there were comments on ensuring the participation of both clinical and healthcare practitioners. The proposed format would entail a small cohort (or one) key speakers for integrated interstate meetings (like an ‘itinerant seminar series’) with participation of ASM state branches.

Prof. Jon Iredell suggested such a workshop should harness ASM infrastructure via the ASM membership enrichment scheme and Visiting Speakers program. We welcome any suggestions or feedback on a SIG ran workshop from any of our members.

Public calls for phage therapy

Karen Weynberg began discussion on how best to handle requests from the public for phage therapy. Prof. Jon Iredell and others unanimously recommended to direct any persons in need to healthcare practitioners of competence. The TGA stance and the concept of magistrals phage preparations were mentioned in relation to patient care and compassionate use, with emphasis on the fact that there is still a long way to go in Australia before any form of agreement is agreed upon. The Special Access Scheme avenue pursued at Westmead in the current phage trial was outlined as the only current option. Jon regards the establishment of a national clinical network for phages of critical importance for progress within the area. Sandra Morales noted that the TGA still regards safety of phage therapy as one of the major issues.

A representative from PhageLux queried the relationship between the TGA and industry as a potential regulatory pathway. Sandra Morales indicated that at the moment it is very much an industry instigated process. There is a need for a collaborative network to build an evidence-based case towards TGA legislation, and this was again highlighted as a useful approach, as well as case-by-case approaches backed by peer-review publications.