Advertise With UsAdvertise on our extensive network of industry websites and newsletters.
Get the PBR newsletterSign up to our free email to get all the latest PBR
news.Drug manufacturers from across the world called for governments and industry to join forces in combating superbugs, which are strains of bacteria that are resistant to various antibiotic types.
Subscribe to our email newsletter
In a declaration signed by 85 companies and nine industry associations across 18 countries, they urged governments and industry to work in parallel in the development of new and alternative market structures that offer better market models for antibiotics.
The declaration urges for better education on the correct use of antibiotics to reduce unnecessary prescriptions by clinicians and overuse by patients and in livestock;
It also calls for improved access to high-quality antibiotics and increased investment in the research and development of new antimicrobial treatments.
Governments are also urged to support research efforts by providing funding and enhancing incentives for new medicines.
The companies participating in the effort include GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Johnson & Johnson, Sanofi, Pfizer, and several others.
Jim O’Neill, chairman of the review on antimicrobial resistance (AMR), said: "This Declaration from industry is a major step forward in establishing a properly global response to the challenges of drug resistance.
"With discussions at this year’s UN General Assembly and as part of China’s G20 presidency looking likely, 2016 is set to be a pivotal year in the global fightback against AMR."
AMR is the natural process by which bacteria and other microbes develop resistance to the drugs commonly used in their treatment. Antimicrobials include antibiotics, antivirals, antiparasitics and antifungals.
Image: Superbugs are strains of bacteria that are resistant to various antibiotic types. Photo: courtesy of Novartis AG.