The Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP) and Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator (CARB-X) jointly welcome the recent G7 Leaders’ Communiqué, which acknowledges the rapid rise in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) globally and renews the commitment by G7 governments to address the most dangerous drug-resistant infections.

The G7 leaders declared they “will spare no efforts to continue addressing this silent pandemic” and committed to “concurrently advance access to antimicrobials, strengthen research and innovation for new antibiotics in international partnerships, and incentivise the development of new antimicrobial treatments with a particular emphasis on pull incentives.” They also highlighted, among other actions, the need to continue promoting the appropriate and responsible use of antibiotics, and raise awareness about sepsis, a life-threatening bloodstream infection.

CARB-X and GARDP greatly value the G7 leadership in addressing the growing threat of AMR, which is estimated to have caused approximately 1.27 million deaths in 2019, more than HIV/AIDS or malaria. G7 governments have provided much-needed support towards CARB-X’s and GARDP’s pivotal work to accelerate the development and deployment of innovative health technologies against the most dangerous drug-resistant bacteria.

In May 2022, the G7 Health Ministers highlighted “the importance of accelerating the early and late-stage development of urgently needed new antimicrobial drugs, vaccines, alternative therapeutics and diagnostics,” and declared that they “value and support initiatives such as CARB-X and GARDP”. They also committed to “continue national and international efforts on AMR research and development for new therapeutics, vaccines and diagnostics.” They also underlined “the importance of closing GARDP’s funding gap to advance GARDP’s 5 by 25 initiative to deliver five new treatments by 2025.”

“The emergence and spread of drug-resistant infections represent a threat to global public health and to the global economy. The G7 is providing essential leadership to prevent millions of people from dying or being pushed into poverty,” said Kevin Outterson, CARB-X’s Executive Director. “We look forward to working closely with all G7 governments and the European Commission to ensure that vulnerable people, including children, will benefit as soon as possible from new antibiotics and other innovative products that prevent, diagnose and treat life-threatening bacterial infections.”

“The right antibiotic at the right dose and the right time can mean the difference between life and death for a patient with a serious bacterial infection,” said Manica Balasegaram, GARDP’s Executive Director.“We need to not only replenish the antibiotic R&D pipeline, but also ramp up efforts to expand access to antibiotics, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, to counter the growing threat of antibiotic resistance. We are committed to working together with the G7 governments to tackle one of the greatest health challenges of our time.”

About GARDP

The Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP) is a Swiss not-for-profit organization developing new treatments for drug-resistant infections that pose the greatest threat to health. GARDP was created in 2016 by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) and legally founded in 2018 to ensure that everyone who needs antibiotics receives effective and affordable treatment, no matter where they live. It aims to develop new treatments to fight drug-resistant infections, with a focus on sexually transmitted infections, sepsis in newborns and infections in hospitalized adults and children. GARDP is funded by the governments of Australia, Germany, Japan, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, South Africa, Switzerland, United Kingdom, the Canton of Geneva, as well as Médecins Sans Frontières and private foundations. GARDP is registered under the legal name GARDP Foundation. www.gardp.org

About CARB-X

Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator (CARB-X) is a global non-profit partnership dedicated to accelerating early development antibacterial R&D to address the rising global threat of drug-resistant bacteria. CARB-X is led by Boston University and funding is provided by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Wellcome, a global charity working to improve health worldwide, Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the U.K. Department of Health and Social Care’s Global Antimicrobial Resistance Innovation Fund (GAMRIF), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and with in-kind support from National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). CARB-X supports the world’s largest and most innovative pipeline of preclinical and early-stage development products against antibiotic-resistant infections. CARB-X is headquartered at Boston University School of Law. For more information, view a fact sheet on CARB-X’s first five years and the 2020-2021 annual report. Visit carb-x.org and follow CARB-X on Twitter @CARB_X.