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An important step forward in the fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR)
INFECTORY has received a grant to develop a sustainable and accessible GMP production facility for phage therapy, with the aim of advancing research and clinical applications in the field of infectious diseases. The INFECTORY project has been selected as one of four projects that will be funded under the PharmaNL Shared Development Infrastructure 2025 call. INFECTORY is an initiative of INFECTA, together with partners across the Netherlands including UMC Utrecht, LUMC, FAST and AHAM, aimed at strengthening the infectious disease research ecosystem. The project focuses on upgrading an existing clinical trial unit into a shared GMP production facility for bacteriophages in the Netherlands.
The facility will enable the production of small-scale, cost-effective GMP batches for early-phase clinical trials and personalized treatments. It will be accessible to academic groups, start-ups and scale-ups, helping to make phage therapy more widely available for research and clinical use.
With INFECTORY, we aim to provide safe and equitable access to phage therapy, produce pharmaceutical-grade bacteriophages for compassionate use and clinical trials, and establish a transparent cost-based access model. The initiative also reduces dependency on imported phages, lowers investment risks for innovators and strengthens the Netherlands response to antimicrobial resistance in line with the ambitions of PharmaNL.
Together, this not-for-profit collaboration combines medical expertise, GMP manufacturing capacity, governance and financing within one shared national infrastructure.
INFECTORY is expected to produce three to four high-quality phage products per year, with room for further growth. The facility will shorten delivery times for patients, reduce reliance on non-standard international supply, strengthen the clinical evidence base for phage therapy and support SMEs within the Netherlands pharmaceutical ecosystem.
“INFECTORY underscores the urgent need to better integrate innovation, application, and policy regarding antimicrobial resistance (AMR). FAST specifically focuses on fostering that cohesion and collaboration where it is not yet a given. Bacteriophages may offer an important solution to the global challenge of rising AMR, but much work remains to be done. Being able to offer an open, shared GMP production facility is a key prerequisite for ensuring that new therapies are not only developed but also reach patients in a responsible manner. “By linking this infrastructure to broader agreements on stewardship and policy, FAST aims to make a long-term contribution to the development of innovative treatments such as phage therapy,” said Saco de Visser, scientific director of FAST.
The facility will operate with transparent cost-plus pricing and non-discriminatory access on a first-come, first-served basis. Production will follow a make-to-order model to minimize waste and risk, while data and manufacturing knowledge will be shared through open science.
Source: FAST
