High-throughput methods leveraging robotics and computer vision for the development of therapeutic phage cocktails

An automated screening platform combining liquid-handling robotics, standardized phenotypic assays and computer-vision enumeration screens large phage collections against clinical bacterial strain panels and has assessed more than 3.8 million phage-bacteria reactions. As an example, a six-phage cocktail (LBP-EC01) for urinary tract infections was active in vitro against 96.4% of 356 uropathogenic E. coli isolates, and 37 of 38 isolates from participants in a Phase 2b trial were sensitive to it.