Recommendations on driving antibiotic R&D and helping to fight antimicrobial resistance

Antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to global health, and it’s only getting worse. Innovation in this area is lacking because few big pharma companies are willing to invest in R&D as a result of low returns and high risks.

It is estimated that antibacterial drug resistance costs the EU at least EUR 1.5 billion and about 25 000 lives every year. The development of new drugs to treat resistant infections is falling behind. New economic models offering incentives that directly support R&D and reward successful outcomes from R&D for the discovery and development of novel antibiotics are long overdue. These models will also need to reconcile such incentives with responsible antibiotic use and access.

Further details: Recommendations on driving antibiotic R&D and helping to fight antimicrobial resistance