LEO Foundation awards a 2026 Research Grant for a phage therapeutic against Group A Streptococcus necrotising soft tissue infection

On 12 August 2026 the LEO Foundation announced DKK 61.9 million in Research Grants to 16 international projects, including one to Professor Thomas Sicheritz-Pontén (University of Copenhagen); the foundation's grantee record lists his 2026 Research Grant of DKK 3,999,634 for a phage therapeutic against Group A Streptococcus necrotising soft tissue infection. The project will expand and test phages, use computational models to design phage cocktails, develop a hydrogel-based delivery system for local delivery, and test the most promising therapies in advanced human skin models that mimic NSTI. It follows a 2023 Research Grant (DKK 3,988,469) and a 2025 Serendipity Grant (DKK 3,999,597) to the same grantee for phage work.