Antibiotic Research UK highlights 'lack of appetite among big pharma' to tackle antibiotic resistance
As chancellor George Osborne prepares to speak about the threat of antibiotic resistance, Antibiotic Research UK starts research programme 'given the lack of appetite among big pharma to find new therapies'
Antibiotic Research UK (ANTRUK) has welcomed the news that chancellor George Osborne will today warn that resistance to antibiotics will become an “even greater threat to mankind than cancer” without global action in a speech at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) meeting in Washington.
According to the charity, the latest evidence suggests 10 million people a year could die globally by 2050 as a result of antibiotic resistance, more than currently die from cancer.
Professor Colin Garner, the chief executive of Antibiotic Research UK (ANTRUK), said: “It is fantastic that the chancellor will today highlight in Washington the threat of antibiotic resistance and that this may be larger than the cancer threat.
"Effective antibiotics underpin all modern medicine, including cancer treatments, surgery, childbirth and heart operations. We are in danger of going back to a pre-antibiotic era unless we very quickly find significant funds to find new antibiotics, as well as safeguarding our current ones. ANTRUK is working with Kevin Hollinrake, MP for Thirsk and Malton, to ask the government for funds to be given to charities such as ours. Whilst discussions have been going on over the past three years about global initiatives, we have raised sufficient funds to commence our first research project. The time for talking is over and we are looking to the UK government to take a world leading role. The chancellor has a fantastic opportunity to make this happen by working with UK stakeholders”.
To meet the challenge of the rise in antibiotic resistant bacteria ANTRUK is commissioning the first ever research programme to screen antibiotic resistance breakers against antibiotic resistance in Gram-negative bacteria. ANTRUK has asked scientific organisations and universities to submit tenders for this testing to see if therapies already in use and being safely administered in humans can be co-administered with antibiotics. This is the first of five projects to be carried out in the next five to seven years, with the ultimate objective of developing new antibiotic therapies for use by the early 2020’s to overcome superbugs.
ANTRUK aims to reverse the decline in antibiotic drug development particularly given the lack of appetite among ‘big pharma’ to find new therapies. This is critical as the WHO believes antibiotic resistance threatens a global situation as serious as the AIDs epidemic; this has been supported by the UK’s chief medical officer Dame Sally Davies and the prime minister.
In the first of its five projects – identified by ANTRUK’s scientific and technical advisory committee, on which some of the UK’s foremost experts in antibiotic resistance sit – up to 1500 drugs in use today for any therapeutic purpose, for example cancer treatment, heart disease and arthritis, will be tested to find out if any can reverse antibiotic resistance. The target antibiotic resistance bacteria to be examined in the screen are the so-called Gram-negative type. These species are responsible for urinary tract, skin and blood infections as well as pneumonia.
ANTRUK has raised funds to finance its first scientific programme from Trusts and Foundations, major donors and the general public. Professor Colin Garner, the charity’s chief executive said: “We are delighted to have raised sufficient funds 20 months from formation to commence our research. Our Antibiotic Resistance Breaker programme could potentially find new ways of extending the life of our existing antibiotics at a fraction of the cost and time compared to conventional drug development”.
Dr David Brown an ex-senior research executive who has worked for Pfizer, Roche and AstraZeneca and chair of the charity’s scientific and technical advisory committee said: “Our committee has been developing this programme for the past 12 months. I believe it offers the possibility of finding new antibiotic therapies to meet our goal of bringing one into clinic by the early 2020’s. The charity is delighted to be starting real research now.”