Orlando Sentinel

Superbugs will face new team in battle

Drugmakers, government­s to join in medical war

- By Linda A. Johnson Associated Press

TRENTON, N.J. — Dozens of makers of medicines and diagnostic tests have joined together in an unpreceden­ted effort to tackle “superbugs” — infections that increasing­ly don’t respond to drugs and threaten millions of people in countries rich and poor.

Altogether, 74 drugmakers, 11 makers of diagnostic tests and nine industry groups have signed a groundbrea­king agreement to work with government­s and each other to prevent and improve treatment of drug-resistant infections.

They plan to announce the new agreement this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerlan­d.

The effort is sorely needed. Many common infections no longer respond to convention­al drugs because of overuse of antibiotic­s, few new drugs to fight bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi, and declining industry research.

A key factor driving those problems is the relatively low prices infection-fighting medicines bring, compared to many drugs patients take for years for chronic conditions.

Bacteria and other microbes can naturally develop resistance to drugs, particular­ly when patients don’t take all of their prescripti­ons and the stronger microbes survive and multiply. Widespread use of antibiotic­s to spur faster growth of livestock raised for food exacerbate­s the problem. Meanwhile, in poor countries, many people can’t afford these medication­s and die unnecessar­ily.

With more and more bugs evolving to overcome infection-fighting drugs, by 2050 superbugs are expected to kill about 10 million people annually without major interventi­on.

That’s according to a recent analysis, called “The Review on Antimicrob­ial Resistance,” commission­ed in 2014 by the U.K. government. The analysis also forecasts global economic output will be reduced by a $100 trillion by 2050.

Against that backdrop, drug- and device-makers and industry groups from 16 countries have signed the “Declaratio­n on Combating Antimicrob­ial Resistance.”

It’s the first statement on how government and industry should work together to prevent more antimicrob­ial drugs from becoming ineffectiv­e, encourage developmen­t of new drugs and provide access to them for all those needing the medicines, regardless of their income or location.

“Antimicrob­ials are the backbone of modern medicine, and have played a key role in increasing life expectancy globally,” Dr. Paul Stoffels, Johnson & Johnson’s chief scientific officer, said in a statement. “For the world to continue to have new antibiotic­s, we need investment­s in basic science and novel incentive models for industry R&D, and to protect our existing treatments, we need new frameworks for appropriat­e use.”

Other companies participat­ing in the effort include companies making antimicrob­ial drugs and vaccines.

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