The U.S. Food and Drug’s Administration’s (FDA) recently announced its 2019 Strategic Approach for Combatting AMR, or antibiotic resistance. Scott Gottlieb, FDA commissioner, said bacteria are rapidly developing new ways to evade our current weapons. He called for an all-hands-on-decked approach, citing revelations in the Pew Charitable Trust’s analysis of the antibiotic pipeline. It revealed:
- Only 11 antibiotics in clinical development could address pathogens considered critical threats by the World Health Organization (WHO)
- 3 in 4 of the antibiotics under development belong to existing classes of antibiotics, against which bacterial resistance has already been observed or could easily develop
- Only ONE of the novel antibiotics in development has the potential to treat Gram-negative bacteria, which cause some of the hardest-to-treat infections
- Only 3 antibiotics in clinical development have the potential to treat gonorrhea, which is becoming increasingly resistant and deemed one of the top three most urgent threats by CDC
Source: Forbes, September 22, 2018. Link.
At this rate, we will run out of weapons before long and potentially plunge back into a world where simple skin infections and urinary tract infections could kill you.
INSIGHTS: Animal health pros can directly support two of the four strategic directions that the FDA will take.
#2. Supporting antimicrobial stewardship. This includes having guidelines on antibiotic prescribing, teaching and disseminating this information, and properly labeling antimicrobials.
#3. Enhancing antimicrobial resistance surveillance. Collect and report product use and incidence data.