Good Day BIO: Antibiotic resistance on the rise

A new WHO report highlights how common bacteria are growing more resistant to antibiotics—but you can take action this week. Plus, bipartisan House Ways & Means Committee members are calling for USTR to open a dispute settlement with Mexico. (650 words, 3 minutes, 15 seconds)

Antibiotic resistance on the rise, says WHO report

A new World Health Organization (WHO) report finds increasingly high levels of antibiotic resistance in bacteria worldwide.

“Common bacterial infections are becoming increasingly resistant to treatments,” says WHO. “Over 60% of Neisseria gonorrhoea isolates, a common sexually transmitted disease, have shown resistance to one of the most used oral antibacterials, ciprofloxacin,” while 20% of E. coli were resistant to both first-line and second-line treatments.

The most dangerous bacteria are increasingly resistant, too—with “high levels (above 50%) of resistance were reported in bacteria frequently causing bloodstream infections in hospitals,” including infections that typically require “last-resort antibiotics.”

By the numbers: Bloodstream infections due to resistant E. coli and Salmonella spp. and resistant gonorrhoea infections increased by at least 15% in 2020 compared to rates in 2017.

About the report: The Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS) report “provides analyses for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) rates in the context of national testing coverage, AMR trends since 2017, and data on antimicrobial consumption in humans.” GLASS has participation from 127 countries with 72% of the global population.

What should we do about it? As we’ve said repeatedly, we urgently need to develop new antimicrobials—and legislation like the PASTEUR Act could help address the broken market for these drugs.

How you can take action: Time’s running out before Congress goes home for the holidays—but it’s still not too late to ask your Members of Congress to pass the PASTEUR Act and jumpstart the development of new antimicrobials.

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U.S. lawmakers call for dispute settlement with Mexico over treatment of agricultural biotech 

Ahead of a key meeting between the U.S. and Mexico, bipartisan House Ways & Means Committee members call for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to request dispute settlement consultations regarding Mexico’s treatment of agricultural biotech.

The latest news: On Friday, U.S. Reps. Adrian Smith (R-NE) and Dan Kildee (D-MI) organized a letter urging U.S. Trade Rep. Ambassador Katherine Tai to take action on Mexico’s treatment of ag biotech, specifically biotech corn.  

“Unfortunately, the Mexican government has not lived up to its biotech-related commitments in the [U.S.-Mexico Canada Agreement],”says the letter, signed by 24 House Ways & Means members. “Accordingly, we urge USTR to promptly request dispute settlement consultations with Mexico on these issues.”

Specifically: Mexico “is moving forward with the implementation of a presidential decree to phase out the importation of genetically engineered corn by January 2024. These policies are not based on science and may decrease the supply of corn in North American agricultural supply chains,” they said, citing a recent report supported by BIO.  

BIO thanks Reps. Smith and Kildee for their leadership on this issue—who join U.S. Senators, BIO, and the farm and biotech industries in urging USTR to take action to get Mexico to resume science- and risk-based regulatory approval processes for all agricultural biotechnology products to ensure food security.  

The next steps: The letter comes ahead of an anticipated meeting between the U.S. and Mexican governments later this week to discuss Mexico’s proposals to revise its agricultural biotechnology regulations—Reuters has more.

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President Biden’s Monday: Participating in a Marine Corps Toys for Tots event in Virginia.

What’s Happening on Capitol Hill: Friday is the deadline for Congress to pass a government funding measure. The Senate is expected to pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which the House passed last week, but work is still needed on appropriations.