Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what research is being conducted in the UK into the use of phages as a response to antibiotic resistance.

The Government continues to invest in research into new and alternative treatments. UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is currently funding 12 projects across three of its councils (BBSRC, EPSRC and MRC) that relate to the use of phages as a response to antibiotic resistance. This represents a commitment of over £6m.

Additionally the Department of Health and Social Care and Wellcome sponsored a strategic pipeline briefing into alternatives to antibiotics in 2015. The briefing reviewed the feasibility and potential clinical impact of alternatives to antibiotics, including bacteriophages, and considered approaches that were most likely to deliver new treatments in the next ten years.