Antimicrobial Resistance
Incentives for new medicinal products: There are still few concrete proposals.
UM – 10/2024
The "silent pandemic"
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is considered one of the three greatest
health risks. Every year, 35,000 people die of AMR in the European Union (EU).
The fatality is more than one million worldwide. A gloomy forecast predicts
doubling of this figure by 2050. Although the effects of AMR are devastating,
there is little awareness of the problem among the general public. AMR is a
"silent pandemic".
G7 deals with AMR
It is different in politics. On 10 October,
the G7 health ministers met in Italy to discuss the challenge of AMR. The focus
is on the responsible use of antibiotics in humans and animals, expansion of
the access to antimicrobial medicinal products and support of research and
development of new medicinal products. It is by no means certain that they will
agree on concrete measures or even reach agreement to provide funds. The
pharmaceutical industry not developing new antibiotics is one of the biggest problems.
It is therefore hoped that the G7 will agree on a common course for market
incentives for novel antibiotics by the end of the Italian Council Presidency
at the end of November. The United Kingdom leads by example by introducing a
subscription model in which developers of novel antibiotics receive a
previously agreed fixed amount in return for a guaranteed supply.
UN General Assembly wants to mobilise money for developing countries
The date comes just over two weeks after
the high-level meeting of the UN General Assembly, which ended with a political
declaration that was considered rather
disappointing by experts and healthcare NGOs. Significant reduction in AMR
could be achieved by curbing the use of antibiotics in agriculture - one of the
biggest drivers of antibiotic resistance. But there were also major differences
of opinion in other areas, such as the obligations of the pharmaceutical
industry, the shared use of new technologies, fair access to new medicines and
funding. The focus here was less on incentive systems. A new independent
committee has been tasked with developing ideas on how to raise €100 million
for developing countries to support their fight against AMR.
What about Europe?
April last year, when it published its
proposal for the revision of the general pharmaceutical regulations, the
European Commission announced that the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) was also
working on a "revenue guarantee". According to press reports, this is
currently being examined in the form of a multi-country revenue guarantee
scheme, in which participating companies receive compensation if their sales
fall below a predetermined threshold. Conversely, the participating companies
undertake to supply the Member States with antibiotics within 24 hours of an
order being placed. In addition, the joint procurement of antimicrobials
continues to be part of HERA's considerations.
EU States want to drastically reduce consumption
Nevertheless, in a recommendation
dated 13 June 2023, the Council has already made the Member States more
accountable for reducing human consumption of antibiotics by 20 per cent by
2030 and the EU-wide sale of antimicrobials for livestock and aquaculture by 50
per cent.