Biopharmaceutical Leaders Announce New Effort to Tackle Superbugs, Spur Development of New Antibiotics

Today more than 20 leading biopharmaceutical companies announced the creation of an estimated $1 billion fund to help support the pipeline for new antibiotic treatments. The AMR Action Fund was launched as the threat of antimicrobial resistance, or AMR, continues to grow and claim more lives. In response to today’s launch of the fund, BIO issued the following statements celebrating the news:

“Antimicrobial resistance is one of the largest and looming public health threats we face today,” said BIO President and CEO Dr. Michelle McMurry-Heath. “Even as the world’s scientists work tirelessly to fight COVID-19, we must not ease up on our battle against antimicrobial resistance. Just as we’ve seen our industry step up during the pandemic, I applaud these biopharmaceutical leaders and partners for committing to the development of new antibiotics. The AMR Action Fund will provide critical support for the development of new medicines, but it is up to policymakers to enact the long-term changes needed to support healthy, sustainable markets for the future development of new and effective antibiotics.”

“For years, we’ve watched antimicrobial-resistance infections rapidly rise around the world, while the market has slowly shrunk for new medicines to fight them,” said Greg Frank, Director of Infectious Disease Policy at BIO & Director of the Working to Fight AMR campaign. “Today’s new AMR Action Fund will have a tremendous impact on the development of new antimicrobials, but we still need government to implement new policies and incentives so companies can successfully develop, test, and launch new antimicrobial products.”

Biopharmaceutical companies and foundations supporting the fund are:

Almirall, Amgen, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chugai, Daiichi Sankyo, Eisai, Eli Lilly and Company, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, LEO Pharma, Lundbeck, Menarini, Merck, MSD, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Novo Nordisk Foundation, Pfizer, Roche, Shionogi, Takeda, Teva, and UCB

For more details on the AMR Action Fund, visit www.AMRActionFund.com.

 To learn more about more BIO’s work to fight antimicrobial resistance, visit WorkingToFightAMR.org.

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