GARDP history
The headlines in 2015 were alarming. A deadly superbug was spreading in hospitals in Australia. An outbreak of drug-resistant gonorrhoea threatened public health in England. The superbug “NDM-1” had reached 70 countries. The BBC warned, “Antibiotic resistance: World on cusp of ‘post-antibiotic era’.” For years, the problem had been growing.
Even as bacteria were becoming more and more resistant to antibiotics, pharmaceutical companies were exiting the antibiotic development industry. The work had become more difficult and expensive, so now the risks outweighed the rewards. And the antibiotics that were being introduced were not particularly innovative—there had been no new class of antibiotics in about 30 years.
In this context, the World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO), adopted the Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance (2015).
To deliver on this plan, GARDP was created in 2016 by WHO and the Drugs for Neglected Disease initiative (DNDi).
Following an initial incubation period in DNDi, GARDP was legally established in 2018 as a Swiss foundation (GARDP Foundation). Three years later, in 2021, the Swiss government granted GARDP legal privileges and immunities to facilitate GARDP’s collaboration with others working in the field of public health and in recognition of GARDP’s major role in the fight against antibiotic resistance.
Today, GARDP is a not-for-profit organization with close to 100 staff. They are part of the GARDP global network, including GARDP North America Inc., representation in Australia, DNDi GARDP Southern Africa Plc, the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative, and associated DNDi regional offices in India, Japan, South America, Southeast Asia and Kenya.
Together with essential support from donors and key research and development partnerships, the GARDP global network makes it possible to carry out global research and drug development trials, as well as expand access to antibiotics for appropriate use, in close connection with communities around the world. GARDP thanks its supporters for their vital contribution to countering antibiotic resistance.
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2014: WHO technical consultation on innovative models for new antibiotics’ development and preservation
2014: Joint WHO-DNDi meeting on fostering the development and rational use of new antibiotics
2015: Investing in the development of new antibiotics and their conservation: setting up a global antibiotic research and development partnership
2016: WHO/DNDi Antimicrobial Project Collaboration Agreement