Collects data on virus-based phage therapy for hard-to-treat infections
Collects data on phage therapy in people with hard-to-treat infections.
Plain-language title generated from the registry record
Registry title: Establishing Personalized Phage Therapy and Its Comparative Cost in Difficult-to-treat Infections (EPHICACI)
Key facts
- Where
- Leuven, BelgiumSee the site
AI summary: who the study is looking for
From the trial's eligibility criteria. Machine-read from the registry text on this page, so it can be wrong. The registry text below and the trial team decide who can take part.
The trial is looking for people with a hard-to-treat bone, joint or muscle infection, chronic sinus infection, lasting bacteria in the blood, lung infection, or hidradenitis suppurativa, when no other treatment is left.
- Sex
- All sexes can join.
- Disease stage
- Hard-to-treat infection where earlier treatment has failed or no other treatment option is available (last resort). The infection must be one of: musculoskeletal infection, chronic rhinosinusitis, persistent bacteremia, lung infection (cystic fibrosis or bronchiectasis), or hidradenitis suppurativa.
- Earlier treatment
- All earlier treatments (surgery and antibiotics) must have failed, or no other treatment options are available, for example because the bacteria are resistant.
- Biomarker or test result
- The bacteria causing the infection must be one for which phages are available in the phage bank.
Main reasons for not taking part
- An infectious disease other than those listed
- Standard treatment options are still available
- The bacteria causing the infection have no phages in the phage bank
- Refusing to give informed consent
Read by machine on 12 November 2026.
Where in Belgium
- University Hospitals LeuvenLeuven, BelgiumContact: Jolien Onsea, PhDTaking people
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Contact the study team: see the registry record → Contacts and Locations
Print a page for my doctorTrial details
- Who runs it
- Universitaire Ziekenhuizen KU Leuven
- Trial code
- NCT06368388
- Record updated
- 21 September 2026
- Original description
EPHICACI is a multicenter, prospective study that continues and expands the monocentric PHAGEFORCE registry initiated at UZ Leuven. In Belgium, phage therapy can be applied as standard-of-care only in patients with difficult-to-treat infections where no curative antibiotic and/or surgical alternatives are available ('last-resort cases'). A multidisciplinary phage task force, the Coordination group for Bacteriophage therapy Leuven (CBL), evaluates eligible patients, tests pathogen susceptibility, and sets up standardized treatment protocols. With EPHICACI, this approach is extended to multiple Belgian expert centers to increase patient enrollment while upholding stringent eligibility criteria. The study aims to gain insight into the safety, efficacy, biodistribution and mechanisms of action of phage therapy, and to optimize its use across five medical disciplines (with distinct routes of administration). In addition, EPHICACI integrates machine learning-based phage-bacteria interaction analyses to guide personalized phage selection, and includes health economic evaluations to support evidence-based implementation and reimbursement strategies.Read full original descriptionShow less
Establishing Personalized Phage Therapy and Its Comparative Cost in Difficult-to-treat Infections
EPHICACI is a multicenter, prospective study that continues and expands the monocentric PHAGEFORCE registry initiated at UZ Leuven. In Belgium, phage therapy can be applied as standard-of-care only in patients with difficult-to-treat infections where no curative antibiotic and/or surgical alternatives are available ('last-resort cases'). A multidisciplinary phage task force, the Coordination group for Bacteriophage therapy Leuven (CBL), evaluates eligible patients, tests pathogen susceptibility, and sets up standardized treatment protocols. With EPHICACI, this approach is extended to multiple Belgian expert centers to increase patient enrollment while upholding stringent eligibility criteria. The study aims to gain insight into the safety, efficacy, biodistribution and mechanisms of action of phage therapy, and to optimize its use across five medical disciplines (with distinct routes of administration). In addition, EPHICACI integrates machine learning-based phage-bacteria interaction analyses to guide personalized phage selection, and includes health economic evaluations to support evidence-based implementation and reimbursement strategies.
Inclusion: Diagnosed with an MSI or CRS or persistent bacteremia or pulmonary infection (cystic fibrosis/bronchiectasis) or HS and; For whom all previous treatments (surgical and antibiotic) have failed or for whom no other treatment options are available (i.e., last resort cases, based on the assessment of the local phage hub), for example in case of bacterial resistance. And; Of whom the pathogen causative for the infection is one for which phages are available in the phage bank, and; Who have given informed consent to have their data collected in a patient registry.
Exclusion: With an infectious disease other than those mentioned above, and/or; Of whom the pathogen causative for the infection is not one for which phages are available in the phage bank. And/or; All patients:; For whom standard treatment alternatives are still available. And/or; Who refused to give their informed consent.