As governments increasingly mobilise to address the now-recognised urgency of creating new antibiotics before humanity develops resistance to existing ones, the pharmaceutical industry broadly is trying to position itself to be helpful in the effort. In a statement today, an industry alliance on antimicrobial resistance reported on its progress this year to date.

The AMR Industry Alliance “is the largest private sector coalition to provide sustainable solutions to curb AMR, with over 100 biotech, diagnostics, generics and research-based pharmaceutical companies and associations joining forces to drive and measure the life-science industry’s progress in the fight against AMR,” it said in the statement issued on the occasion of the World Antibiotic Awareness Week.

“[T]he Alliance repeats its pledge to address the threat of AMR and acknowledges that these global milestones keep the momentum going on raising awareness among policy-makers, healthcare professionals and the general public on what actions and solutions are needed to keep effective antibiotics in the medicines toolbox. It hopes that more will join the Alliance in moving beyond statements of intent and take concrete action to address AMR.”

Progress in 2018 that it listed includes:

• “The AMR Industry Alliance has made major strides in 2018 taking action across four different areas to tackle the public health threat of AMR: research and science, access, appropriate use, and manufacturing and the environment.
• In 2018, it has published its first progress report that provides unique insights into the practical steps its members are taking to respond to AMR. The findings of the report illustrate both the challenges the healthcare sector faces in tackling AMR and how the industry is essential to winning this battle.
• The Alliance generic and research-based pharmaceutical companies have also agreed on a framework that promotes responsible antibiotic manufacturing. In September 2018, these companies took a further step by publishing the first list of discharge targets to guide environmental risk assessments for the manufacture of antibiotics.
• On World Antibiotic Awareness Week, the Alliance calls for a coordinated and multi-pronged response from all stakeholders and to move beyond statements of intent and take concrete action to address AMR.”

“It is the first industry-wide grouping of this scale that has been set up to respond to the AMR emergency,” Thomas Cueni, chair of the Alliance, and director general of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA), said in the statement. “The Alliance hopes to unlock new ways of thinking, and the diverse membership allows us to think outside the box and formulate a range of creative and sustainable solutions to AMR.”

“But the full impact of the life-science industry’s efforts can only be made through collaborations with governments and other public health players,” Cueni said. “We call for a coordinated and multi-pronged response from all stakeholders.”