“Superbugs”, or drug-resistant bacteria and fungi, are evolving at a rapid pace. Globally, antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections played a role in nearly 5 million deaths worldwide in 2019. That same year in the United States, AMR was directly responsible for nearly 42,000 deaths. That means AMR was the third leading cause of death from disease in the United States, behind heart disease and cancer.
By 2050, experts estimate that superbugs could kill up to 10 million people worldwide each year — more than currently die from cancer. Working to Fight AMR seeks to help combat this public health crisis by raising awareness of the threat of AMR and policy solutions that will help encourage the development of new antimicrobial medicines.
Without effective antibiotics, common infections like strep throat and pneumonia will become more and more difficult to treat. Everyday medical procedures, such as hip replacements and C-sections, will become even riskier. It’s critical that we fix the broken antimicrobial pipeline and develop new medicines before we run out of effective treatments.
In the last decade, antimicrobial developers worked diligently to get over a dozen novel antimicrobial medicines approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) — the majority of which were developed by small companies. However, due to the broken antimicrobial marketplace, nearly all of the small companies behind those successful antimicrobials have either declared bankruptcy or were sold for pennies on the dollar.
The economics of the antimicrobial marketplace are upside down, but there are policy solutions before Congress that could help. It’s time to turn today’s remarkable scientific research into life-saving cures.
Congress could accelerate the development of new antimicrobial medicines. To ensure that Washington, D.C. understands the urgency of this crisis, lawmakers need to hear from you. Use this form to send a message to your elected representatives and tell them to help stop the spread of superbugs by passing legislation that will support antimicrobial development.
Without effective antimicrobial treatments, we will return to the medical dark ages.
Current economic incentives don't work for new antibiotics.
Drug-resistant infections exacerbate public health emergencies.
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Read MoreGlobally, drug-resistant bacterial infections killed over 1.2 million people and played a role in 4.95 million deaths in 2019. By 2050, superbugs are expected to kill more than 10 million people each year, outpacing annual deaths from cancer.
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