AMR awareness + a lot of news

With the passing of Rosalynn Carter, BIO recognizes her lifesaving work to increase school vaccinations and federal support for vaccine programs, founding Every Child By Two, now Vaccinate Your Family, an important partner in expanding access to vaccines and combating misinformation. Today, we also look at World AMR Awareness Week and recent ag biotech policy developments. (583 words, 2 minutes, 54 seconds)

What to know during World AMR Awareness Week

AMR—antimicrobial resistance—is getting worse, and we need to develop new antimicrobials and antibiotics quickly. This week, we look at what’s holding up development and what we can do about it. 

What’s AMR? Antimicrobial resistance is when bacteria and fungi no longer respond to medicines, making infections harder to treat. 

Why it matters: Without new antimicrobials, AMR could kill 10 million people per year by 2050—more than the number of people who die annually from cancer.

World AMR Awareness Week, from November 18-24, “calls for cross-sectoral collaboration to preserve the effectiveness of antimicrobials,” says the World Health Organization (WHO).

To preserve the effectiveness of antimicrobials, we need new ones—but the market is “broken,” said CARB-X’s Kevin Outterson on the I am BIO Podcast. “Unlike other drugs, you actually don’t want to use them. You want to take the new antibiotic and use it as little as possible.”

The PASTEUR Act could help—guaranteeing access to new, effective antimicrobials, “regardless of how many doses [are] ultimately used,” writes BIO CEO Rachel King in The Hill. “Companies, in turn, could be confident of earning a return that is decoupled from the volume, and, instead, based upon the value the product provides for public health.”

5 stories to read (and share) about why AMR matters:

1. On AMR, ‘we need to be scared’ – and pass PASTEUR
2. Legislation to fight AMR superbugs is an urgent need, BIO member tells Senate hearing
3. How amputees give voice to AMR
4. Battling sepsis and superbugs requires awareness and policy
5. ‘Miracle Man’ beat sepsis, but now needs a kidney

Farm Bill extended, USDA proposes new plant regulation exemptions

Last week was busy for agricultural biotech policy, with the Farm Bill extended and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) proposing to increase the types of genetically modified plants exempt from regulation.

The Farm Bill facilitates biotech innovations for food and fuel. Last week’s stopgap legislation maintains the BioPreferred and Bioenergy programs and infuses $37 million into the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research.

What’s next for the Farm Bill: Funding for agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration continues until Jan. 19. BIO supports passage of a robust, five-year Farm Bill with support for biotech innovation.

Regulatory exemptions for genetic engineering in plants: USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) on Tuesday announced a proposal to add five categories to the list of genetic plant modifications exempt from 7 CFR part 340, which limits interstate movement or export.

The modifications considered are achievable by conventional breeding—and USDA Biotechnology Regulatory Services (BRS) said exempting them would reduce reviews by 15-20%. BRS also named 12 specific genetically modified plants exempt.

What’s next for APHIS: Public comments on the proposal to exempt five new modification types will be accepted until Dec. 15.

More Agriculture & Environment News:

TIME: TIME100 Climate: LanzaTech’s Jennifer Holmgren
“Jennifer Holmgren is CEO of carbon-recycling company LanzaTech. Under her leadership the company has developed the world’s first alternative aviation fuel derived from industrial waste gases. She plans to have 20 plants up and running by the end of 2024, each with the carbon-reducing capacity equivalent to removing 120,000 cars from the road each year,” says TIME, naming her one of the TIME100 Climate Innovators.

President Biden’s Monday: Pardoning two Thanksgiving turkeys, Liberty and Bell, on the White House South Lawn. Last week, he announced he will appoint Dr. W. Kimryn Rathmell, currently Physician-in-Chief at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, as the 17th Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI). 

What’s Happening on Capitol Hill: A quiet beginning to the holiday week.