Project description
Unleashing the power of bacteriophages
Bacteriophages – viruses that selectively kill bacteria – are promising tools for combating antibiotic resistance and advancing biotechnology. Their wider use is held back by slow, labour-intensive and largely unreliable methods for identifying suitable phages and assembling treatment ‘cocktails’. Purification after production in bacterial hosts is another barrier. The ERC-funded PhageTRAP project aims to establish proof of concept for a modular platform that selectively captures and releases phages using synthetic molecular motifs anchored to a solid support. Combining synthetic chemistry and microbiology, the platform will enable high-throughput phage screening, therapy assembly and production of clinically safe preparations. If successful, PhageTRAP could be a step change, supporting faster, safer and more reliable development of phage-based therapies and industrial biotechnologies.
Objective
Bacteriophages are viruses that specifically infect bacteria and offer powerful solutions for combating antibiotic resistance, advancing industrial biotechnology, and enabling fundamental research. Major challenges hinder the broader use of phages in therapy and biotechnology. Identifying suitable phages and assembling complementary cocktails remains slow, labor-intensive, and largely unsystematic. Purification is equally problematic, as production in bacterial hosts introduces endotoxins, DNA, and other contaminants that are difficult to remove with current methods, which are inefficient, slow, and not scalable. Together, these obstacles represent critical bottlenecks and highlight the urgent need for reliable, rapid, and safe phage capture technologies.
The PhageTRAP project aims to establish the proof of concept for a modular platform that can selectively capture and release phages using synthetic motifs tethered to a solid support. Different motifs will target Gram-positive pathogens, while other motifs will serve as examples for the customizable capture of Gram-negative pathogens. The platform will be validated with species clinically relevant for phage therapy and tested on phages recovered from environmental sources. By combining synthetic chemistry and microbiology, this proof-of-concept project will demonstrate a highly innovative, scalable, and safe approach to phage capture, enabling high-throughput screening, assembly of complementary phage cocktails, and production of therapeutic-grade preparations. The resulting platform has strong translational potential, clear industrial and clinical applications, and opportunities for commercialization and intellectual property development. Ultimately, PhageTRAP could become a disruptive technology for advancing phage-based therapeutics, transforming them into faster, safer, and more reliable tools for medicine and biotechnology.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC-POC - HORIZON ERC Proof of Concept Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2025-POC
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
1010 WIEN
Austria
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