Public awareness is growing in Canada and around the world about the urgent need for concerted global action to counter the serious health threat posed by antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Antimicrobial-resistant infections are becoming more frequent and increasingly difficult to treat, exacerbated by inappropriate use of antimicrobials in human and veterinary medicine and in agriculture. The dramatic increase in bacterial resistance can imperil healthcare systems’ ability to treat life-threatening infections and to carry out treatments such as surgery, chemotherapy, and organ transplants.
Unless action is taken on a global scale, it is estimated that by 2050 AMR could result in the deaths of 10 million people around the world every year, according to the United Kingdom’s Review on Antimicrobial Resistance. A World Bank report estimates that by 2050, AMR threatens economic damage similar to — and likely worse than — the 2008 global financial crisis.
The undersigned organizations, representing industry and the scientific community engaged in researching and developing drugs, vaccines, medical devices, and diagnostics, applaud the Canadian government for its leadership. We support the call for Canada to adopt antimicrobial stewardship and AMR as a signature initiative at the G7 Summit in Charlevoix, Quebec, June 8–9, 2018.
We are inspired by the Davos Declaration of January 2016, in which the international pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and diagnostics industries committed to specific actions — including the need for a supply of innovative new antibiotics, the need for antibiotics to be used cautiously, and the need to improve access to existing antibiotics.
Taking collective action
We encourage the government to strengthen Canada’s end-to-end research capacity for antimicrobial innovation — from surveillance and early-stage discovery of new antibiotics, novel approaches, vaccines and diagnostics, through to advanced testing and post-market studies — and to establish new business models that improve access while supporting appropriate use and delivering an adequate return to developers.
About Fedora Pharmaceuticals
Fedora Pharmaceuticals Inc. is an innovative biotech founded in 2011 and headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The company is dedicated to discovering and developing novel antimicrobial drugs to tackle antibiotic resistance (AMR). Fedora’s most advanced candidate is nacubactam, a Phase 3-ready β-lactamase inhibitor being advanced with partner Meiji Seika; Fedora holds key US rights to nacubactam. For more information, visit fedorapharma.com.
