- Government opens WA's first phage manufacturing facility
- Phage WA will develop therapies to fight antibiotic-resistant superbugs
- Innovative facility supported by Future Health Research and Innovation (FHRI) Fund
The Cook Government has opened the State's first medical manufacturing facility to help patients fight antibiotic-resistant superbugs.
Medical Research Minister Stephen Dawson said the new phage manufacturing unit was using groundbreaking technology that would transform the lives of critically ill Western Australians battling infections that no longer responded to antibiotic treatment.
The State Government has supported the establishment of Phage WA with a $645,000 investment through the Future Health Research and Innovation Fund's Innovation Seed Fund and Innovation Fellowship Grant.
The State Government's commitment is in addition to a $1.9 million grant from the Commonwealth Government's Medical Research Future Fund.
Bacteriophages, or phages, are naturally occurring 'friendly' viruses which attack bacteria by injecting their DNA into bacterial cells.
Phage therapy has the potential to treat antibiotic-resistant superbugs such as lung, skin and ear infections as well as bacterial infections like Golden Staph.
By launching a phage manufacturing facility in Western Australia, local patients now have access to alternatives therapies much closer to home.
Phage WA is a partnership between the Wal-yan Respiratory Research Centre at Telethon Kids Institute, Perth Children's Hospital Foundation and Perth Children's Hospital with the manufacturing facility based at Cell and Tissue Therapies WA at Royal Perth Hospital.
The launch of Phage WA, alongside the recently announced Collaborative Centre for Advanced Therapies at Royal Perth Hospital, highlights WA's growing momentum in advanced therapy manufacturing capability.
The Cook Government established the FHRI Fund in 2020, which is backed by the State's almost $1.8 billion sovereign wealth fund. This has resulted in nearly $250 million being available over the next four years to support health and medical research and innovation in Western Australia.
Comments attributed to Medical Research Minister Stephen Dawson:
"This is a lifesaving new treatment that brings new hope to those Western Australians who have exhausted all other possible avenues of fighting an antibiotic infection.
"The opening of this remarkable new medical facility is another example of the Cook Government supporting cutting edge medical research through our highly successful Future Health Research and Innovation (FHRI) Fund.
"We're totally committed to investing in local researchers and supporting them to pursue their innovative world-leading medical research projects that can save lives here in WA and around the world.
"This is another exciting day for medical research in WA with the State's first phage facility now officially open for business, ready to help WA patients get access to these lifesaving alternative therapies."
