Pharma Companies Sign Plan to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance
Thirteen leading companies have presented a new roadmap for four key commitments that they will deliver by 2020 to reduce antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The commitments follow the principles identified and agreed upon in the industry declaration, the “Declaration by the Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology and Diagnostics Industries on Combating Antimicrobial Resistance,” made at the 2016 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland earlier this year and reflect the companies’ intent to continue to contribute to the global efforts to address AMR. The announcement, made at United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance that was held in New York last week, was issued by the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA), a Geneva, Switzerland-based association representing innovator-based pharmaceutical companies and pharmaceutical industry associations on matters relating to global health.
The 13 signatory companies are: Allergan, AstraZeneca, Cipla, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co., Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi, Shionogi, and Wockhardt as well as DSM Sinochem Pharmaceuticals, a manufacturer of raw materials, intermediates, active pharmaceutical ingredients, and drug products.
“In presenting this roadmap, the signatory companies firmly demonstrate their shared ambition to overcome the staggering threat AMR represents for our society, economies, and citizens,” said IFPMA in a statement. “We are committed to working to reduce the development of antimicrobial resistance, improve access to high-quality antibiotics, vaccines, and diagnostics, invest in R&D, and collaborate with governments and stakeholders to sustain those investments.” Specifically, the signatory companies commit to:
• Reduce the environmental impact from the production of antibiotics, including a review of the companies’ manufacturing and supply chains and work with stakeholders to establish a common framework for assessing and managing antibiotic discharge.
• Help ensure antibiotics are used only by patients who need them. Recognizing this requires concerted efforts from many stakeholders, through continued provider and patient education, an examination of the companies’ promotional activities, sharing of surveillance data with public-health bodies and healthcare professionals, and collaboration with stakeholders to reduce uncontrolled antibiotic purchase.
• Improve access to current and future antibiotics, vaccines, and diagnostics, including working with stakeholders to strengthen global health systems and address access bottlenecks; establishing new business models that balance access needs, appropriate antibiotic use, expanded vaccine coverage and adequate return to companies; and working to reduce the prevalence of substandard/counterfeit antibiotics in high-risk markets.
• Explore new opportunities for open collaborations between industry and the public sector to address challenges in the research and development of new antibiotics, vaccines, and diagnostics.
The companies have also reiterated their support for a comprehensive multi-sectoral approach to address the other factors contributing to AMR as defined by the World Health Organization Global Action Plan, the AMR Review, the US National Strategy and Action Plan, and the just-released United Nations AMR High Level Meeting declaration.
“Progress will not be achieved without concerted efforts from all stakeholders, and we call on governments to support the reduction of inappropriate antibiotic use in humans and animals, the improvement of surveillance and infection control measures, the ongoing research and development into novel antibiotics through financial and regulatory incentives, and finally, to deepen commitments to develop and adopt advanced diagnostics to address over-prescription in patients,” said IFPMA in its statement.
In its release, IFPMA said that the “companies support the establishment of a high-level coordinating mechanism to provide global leadership, mobilize resources, set goals, and measure progress towards them. We also welcome similar commitments from other stakeholders involved in combating AMR.”
The full industry roadmap for combatting AMR may be found here.
Source: IFPMA