What we do

Antibiotic resistance is a perfect storm. The overuse and misuse of antibiotics is accelerating the pace at which bacteria are developing resistance to treatments. Meanwhile, pharmaceutical companies are leaving the market or even going bankrupt, and the remaining companies are not developing sufficiently innovative solutions for difficult-to-treat infections. And even antibiotics that have been developed are not reaching regions of the world that need them most. GARDP seeks to discover and develop antibiotics for the most difficult-to-treat infections and make them accessible to people everywhere.

GARDP Strategy 2024-2028

Our strategy is designed to enable the development and availability of the right antibiotic treatments for those who need them. By focusing on both immediate and long-term solutions to AMR, we aim to create a new global antibiotic pipeline, an ecosystem for antibiotic R&D and access, that is driven by public health need.

Read now

Targeting key disease areas

The 2022 GRAM study gives us important insights into what kind of infections are becoming more difficult to treat. To significantly reduce mortality and morbidity related to drug resistance around the world, GARDP has developed a disease area strategy based on priority diseases and infections; WHO priority pathogens; and regional needs and populations. Based on this strategy, we prioritize treatments for serious bacterial infections and sepsis (including neonatal sepsis) and sexually transmitted infections (with a focus on gonorrhoea).

Female Nurse With A Mask Putting On Gloves

Programmatic areas

African American female Doctor in the operating room putting drugs through an IV

Serious bacterial infections & sepsis

Serious bacterial infections are among the major causes of death for people in hospitals and other healthcare settings.

Neonatal sepsis

1 in 5 deaths caused by drug-resistant infections occur in children under the age of five, and up to 3 million newborns get serious infections that lead to sepsis every year.

Mid Section Of Young Woman Wearing Denim Jacket Over Summer Dress With Floral Pattern

Sexually transmitted infections

Gonorrhoea affects 82 million people each year, and disproportionately harms women. Resistant strains are spreading around the world.

Close-up shot of microscope with metal lens at laboratory.

Discovery & exploratory research

Growing drug resistance is outpacing the development of antibiotics for the most difficult-to-treat infections. Producing such antibiotics starts with the earliest stage of drug development.

Simphiwe Zwide - MSF Treatment For TB in South Africa.

Access to antibiotics

Lack of access to novel antibiotics is a global problem that acutely affects whole countries and regions as well as certain population groups like children.

Cutaneous Leishmaniasis In Pakistan: Patient Testimonies

Scientific affairs & REVIVE

With the abandonment of antimicrobial research and development by many companies and academic laboratories, there is a risk of losing the hard-earned knowledge and experience of people who have worked in the field for decades.

GARDP’s impact

GARDP develops treatments for the most harmful and deadly bacteria

A recent study found that just six pathogens—all of which are recognized as priority pathogens in need of new treatments by the World Health Organization (WHO)—are responsible for the majority of the nearly 1.3 million deaths caused by antibiotic resistance each year. GARDP is developing and making accessible new treatments for these pathogens.

GARDP addresses public health needs

Antibiotic resistance knows no boundaries. Resistance mechanisms are passed on by multiplying bacteria and are spread among neighbouring bacteria. To stop the spread of drug-resistant infections, GARDP is investing in new treatments and expanding access to antibiotics, including SECURE, a collaborative initiative to accelerate access to a portfolio of essential antibiotics in order to help countries prepare for and respond to a pandemic of drug-resistant infections.

GARDP contributes to sustainable development

At the heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development are 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which aim to create peace and prosperity for all people and the planet. GARDP contributes to SDG 3—ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. Since bacterial resistance can affect anyone anywhere, everyone stands to benefit from effective and accessible treatments.

In addition, GARDP contributes to SDG 5—gender equality and women’s empowerment, and especially to universal access to sexual and reproductive health—via its treatment for gonorrhoea, since women suffer disproportionately from this sexually transmitted infection.

Portrait Shot Of African Black Girl With Medicine