• Announcements demonstrate momentum towards expanding access ahead of UN High-Level Meeting on AMR in New York
• New investments will ensure more people get access to new and existing antibiotics against drug-resistant infections
• GSK becomes first biopharma company to fund GARDP’s unique public-private partnership model

Geneva, 19 September 2024 – Ten public and private funders have announced a total of just over EUR 60 million (USD 66 million) in funding to GARDP. This will allow GARDP to accelerate research and development (R&D) of treatments for drug-resistant infections and make them accessible to people who need them most. The announcement comes one week ahead of the UN High-Level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), to be held on 26 September during the 79th session of the UN General Assembly in New York City.

“We are grateful for these unprecedented donor commitments. They are an endorsement of GARDP’s cost-effective and innovative approach to tackling the AMR crisis,” said Dr Manica Balasegaram, GARDP’s Executive Director. “On the cusp of the UN High Level Meeting on AMR, these commitments allow us to ramp up urgently needed research and development and expand our ambitions on better ensuring access to life-saving antibiotics.”

The funding will support GARDP’s strategy, which focuses on accelerating the development of much-needed antibiotics that are effective against World Health Organization (WHO) priority pathogens, and ensuring people who need them get access, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

AMR is now one of the biggest global killers and on the rise. An estimated 80% of AMR deaths occur in LMICs, with sub-Saharan Africa and Asia bearing the brunt.

More people are dying from a lack of access to antibiotics than from drug-resistant infections. Many of these deaths could be prevented if both existing and newly developed antibiotics were made accessible to more people in need.

According to the new Global Research on Antimicrobial Resistance (GRAM) study just published in The Lancet, AMR mortality is predicted to increase by 70% by 2050 compared to 2022. The findings of this study show that the most impactful way to prevent this is through improved access to effective antibiotics, particularly in low- and middle-income countries where the burden of disease continues to be the greatest. And improved global access could potentially avert more than 50 million deaths by 2050.

GARDP is pleased to welcome GSK among its new funders, a first for the public-private partnership. GSK, a leading global biopharma company, is committing EUR 4.5 million to support GARDP’s integrated R&D and access model. The funding will focus on ensuring accessibility of safe, effective, affordable antibiotics that are suitable for diverse settings with high AMR burdens and limited resources.

Emma Walmsley, GSK CEO said: “GSK and GARDP share a common vision of improving equitable responsible access to medicines for people living in lower-income countries. Building on GSK’s long-standing commitment to tackling AMR and track record to improve access to vaccines and medicines, this work will concentrate on fostering a much needed, robust AMR access approach at global, regional and national levels.”

In total, 6 governments, the European Union, GSK, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the South African Medical Research Council, are providing EUR 60.8 million to support GARDP’s R&D and access activities. The government funders include Germany, Japan, Monaco, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

“We are at a pivotal moment in the global fight against antimicrobial resistance, and international collaboration is more important than ever”, said Dame Sally Davies, UK Special Envoy for AMR. “The UK is proud to continue this partnership with GARDP, driving life-saving innovations such as the first new antibiotic for drug-resistant gonorrhoea in over 30 years. We remain committed to working with GARDP to ensure that these vital treatments reach those who need them most around the world.”

The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through KfW Development Bank will provide EUR 11 million in funding to help GARDP accelerate access to new treatments for drug-resistant infections, including sexually transmitted infections, serious bacterial infections and sepsis. This new pledge brings Germany’s total funding to GARDP to EUR 127.8 million, making it GARDP’s largest funder.

The European Commission’s Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) has committed EUR 20 million to facilitate collaboration between GARDP and WHO on gonorrhea, providing push funding for the preclinical and clinical development of new treatments while ensuring sustainable access, affordability, and responsible use.

“Threats resulting from antimicrobial resistance pose one of the greatest risks to human health,” said Laurent Muschel, Head of HERA. “Unfortunately, there is a clear lack of investment in the required new antibiotics. In the run up to UNGA, we are proud to collaborate with GARDP and WHO with a commitment of €20 million to support the development of such innovative antibiotics. This is one of the top priorities of HERA to make medical countermeasures available against the global threat of AMR.”

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which funded GARDP to undertake one of the largest observational studies on neonatal sepsis from 2018-2020, is providing USD 7.4 million in new funding to support additional work aimed at reducing neonate mortality from AMR in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The new funding will support GARDP’s planned large-scale trial (NeoSep1) to evaluate antibiotic treatments for neonatal sepsis in LMICs.

“The growing threat of AMR continues to disproportionately impact the world’s most vulnerable—especially newborn infants in low- and middle-income countries,” said Trevor Mundel, President of Global Health at the Gates Foundation. “This innovative trial will help generate the evidence needed to improve and expand access to high-quality treatment options for neonatal sepsis, a leading cause of neonatal mortality.”

Driven by public health need, GARDP’s innovative model strives to ensure the antibiotic drug development process is efficient and cost-effective by fully integrating R&D and access; negotiating collaboration and license agreements; and developing equal partnership with public and private sector actors.
If fully funded, GARDP will invest EUR 220 million over the next five years to develop new antibiotic treatments and make them accessible to those who need them most.

Editor’s note

*Based on September 2024 EUR exchange rate

About GARDP

We are a not-for-profit global health organization driven to protect people from the rise and spread of drug-resistant infections, one of the biggest threats to us all. By forging the public and private partnerships that matter, we develop and make accessible antibiotic treatments for people who need them. We receive vital support from the governments of Canada, Germany, Japan, Monaco, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the Canton of Geneva, the European Union, as well as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Global Health EDCTP3, GSK, the RIGHT Foundation, the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) and Wellcome. We are GARDP, the Global Antibiotic Research & Development Partnership. www.gardp.org