“What if another devastating pandemic came on the heels of COVID-19?” asks BIO President and CEO Dr. Michelle McMurry-Heath in STAT News. Unfortunately, this might be possible if we don’t develop new antibiotics soon.
Antimicrobial resistance, or AMR, occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites no longer respond to antibiotics—and if we don’t act, deaths from drug-resistant infections could reach 10 million per year by 2050, about the same number as cancer.
“Preventing this public health threat will require an aggressive, federally backed effort to develop new and more potent antibiotics,”writes Dr. Michelle.
Because it’s difficult to invest in and develop new antibiotics, 20+ biopharmaceutical companies last year launched the AMR Action Fund, pledging $1 billion to support the pipeline & bring 2-4 new antibiotics to the market by 2030.
But success depends on policy—here are two reforms that could help:
- The PASTEUR Act (R. 8920), which “would create a subscription model, in which the federal government would provide biopharma companies a fixed annual payment for access to antibiotics regardless of how many doses are actually sold. Delinking revenues from sales volumes would give these companies the financial certainty they need to invest in the next generations of antibiotics.”
- The DISARM Act (R. 4100), which “would address an in-hospital reimbursement barrier under Medicare…with an add-on payment and ensures that patients will have access to appropriate medicines when they are needed.”
The bottom line: “It’s time to leverage science and policy to fight antimicrobial resistance,” concludes Dr. Michelle. “Otherwise, we’ll set the stage for another global health crisis.”
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Learn more about how we’re working to fight AMR.
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