Abstract
As bacteria continue to develop resistance to our existing treatment options, antibiotic innovation remains overlooked. If current trends continue, then we could face the stark reality of a postantibiotic era, whereby routine bacterial infections could once again become deadly. In light of a warning signaled by the WHO, a number of new initiatives have been established in the hope of reinvigorating the antibiotic drug development pipeline. In this perspective, we aim to summarize some of these initiatives and funding options, as well as providing an insight into the predicament that we face. Using clinical trials data, company website information and the most recent press releases, a current update of the antibiotic drug development pipeline is also included.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 2035-2065 |
| Number of pages | 31 |
| Journal | Future Medicinal Chemistry |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue number | 22 |
| Early online date | 10 Nov 2020 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 30 Nov 2020 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:In more recent times (July 2020), the AMR action fund has been established by more than 20 leading pharmaceutical companies and is supported by the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations [37]. The initiative, which includes GSK, Lilly, Novartis and UCB among others, has already raised nearly US$1 billion in funding to support and accelerate the clinical development of new antibiotics in targeting the most drug-resistant bacteria, as stated by the WHO’s priority pathogen list [37,38]. The AMR action fund, which is set to become the largest collective venture ever created to address AMR, will primarily invest in smaller biotech companies, as well as providing a technical support through expertise and resource sharing. Despite being industry-led, the AMR action fund has been created in collaboration with the WHO, the European investment bank and the Wellcome trust and will also encourage governments to create more sustainable market conditions and policy reforms for novel antimicrobials. The fund is expected to be operational in the last quarter of 2020 and aims to bring two to four new antibiotics to patients by 2030 [37].
Funding Information:
The establishment of public-private-partnerships (PPPs) has come into fruition within the last decade. Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator (CARB-X) is the world’s largest PPP dedicated to accelerating antibiotic innovation [40]. The nonprofit partnership was set up in 2015 and involves the US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR), the Wellcome Trust, Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the UK government’s Global AMR Innovation Fund (GAMRIF) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as in kind support from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID). Between 2016 and 2021, the partnership has stated it will invest more than US$500 million to support the development of antibiotic products [40,41]. In particular, these investments will be rewarded to research laboratories and small companies developing treatments against MDR Gram-negative pathogens. Predominantly focusing on supporting preclinical studies and early phase clinical trials (Phase I), the partnership is now providing support for 33 projects across the world; all of which target the highest priority pathogens. With financial support from the partnership, currently five projects have ‘graduated’ from the scheme and are now undergoing Phase I clinical trials [42]. CARB-X welcomes applications from across the world.
Funding Information:
At university level, there are also a number of initiatives now being used in the fight against AMR. One such example is the Community for Open Antimicrobial Drug Discovery (CO-ADD), that was launched in 2015 [143]. The nonprofit global initiative is funded by the Wellcome Trust and the University of Queensland, Australia. CO-ADD offers a screening service for any compound sent to them against a host of clinically relevant bacterial and fungal strains. The open-access platform has so far screened over 80,000 compounds from 35 countries.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Future Medicine Ltd.. All rights reserved.
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
Keywords
- antibiotic drug development pipeline
- antimicrobial innovation
- medicinal chemistry
- postantibiotic era
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Molecular Medicine
- Pharmacology
- Drug Discovery