Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make a comparative assessment of the effectiveness of phage therapy regulatory frameworks in (a) Belgium, (b) Canada, (c) France, (d) the US and (e) Australia; whether he plans to adopt similar measures in the UK; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of doing so on patient access.

The United Kingdom’s regulatory framework supports patient access to phage therapy and is in line with many other national regulatory authorities. We continue to keep the regulatory framework for phage therapies under review, aligning where necessary with regulatory frameworks internationally, in order to support continued patient access via phage sharing between countries.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is planning to publish draft guidance on phage product licensing, developed with researchers and industry, to clarify regulatory and manufacturing requirements.