for an affordable, rapid test allowing health care providers to distinguish between upper respiratory tract infections that require antibiotics and those that can be treated safely without them. The rules of the contest mean all applicants have complete freedom to come up with the most promising and effective solution, whether that is from an established scientist in the field or an innovative newcomer. The EU is committed to progress in the fight against AMR. Research projects have been numerous. Whilst some have the aim of developing antibiotics, vaccines and alternative treatments for drug-resistant microbial infections, others have set out to see if there are better methods to use antibiotics. There are also studies of antibiotic resistance within the food chain and investigations into using novel nano technology for the delivery of antimicrobial drugs. Looking into demographics, young children are the highest users of antibiotics in the European Union and there are high rates of transmission of antibiotic-resistant pathogens among young children that attend day-care in Europe. One European project called APEC, which stands for Antibiotic Resistance and Prescribing in European Children is active in advising healthcare practitioners to be prudent in prescriptions rather than over rely on them, as too many children are receiving broad-spectrum antibiotics for viral infections. In a very different and innovative approach to the AMR problem, researchers in the SONO project have developed a way of using sound waves to apply antibacterial coatings on hospital robes and sheets. This technology could impact significantly on the frequency of hospital acquired infections.
A New Antibiotic Since 1999, the EU has invested nearly €800 million in transnational collaborative projects on antimicrobial resistance, driving the efforts to finding solutions. “Resistance is certainly something to be concerned about and the EU is joining forces with the pharmaceutical industry, within the Innovative Medicines Initiative, to boost research and to
speed up the delivery of much-needed antibiotics to patients,” comments Moedas. The EU funding has already succeeded in fuelling possible solutions for new antibiotics. It has enabled the research undertaken for the NABATIVI project, which has investigated a new antibiotic which could be used against the dangerous infection, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacterium that has been discovered in hospitals, infecting cystic fibrosis patients, people with weakened immune systems – including cancer patients – and patients in intensive care. The new antibiotic is currently in the clinical trials phase. It was initially developed by Polyphor AG, a European SME but the next step required the intervention of a major pharmaceutical company, Roche. The partnership with Roche is an important connection. “Up to now the big players were not really interested in investment in new antibiotics. This is the first time for many years that a big pharma company has invested in the antibiotic area,” stated project coordinator Alessandra Bragonzi. The NABATIVI project, which has now ended, could provide the model for antibiotic development in the future where in the first instance research and development is carried out by universities and SMEs and then the baton is passed on to major, larger investors when potential candidates are primed for the exhaustive, expensive task of testing and gaining regulatory approvals. There is no doubt we are on the right track when looking at the multitude of projects that are focusing on the AMR problem. The collaboration between scientists, healthcare professionals and the healthcare industry is vital in this research pursuit, with the potential to save millions of lives and benefit the global economy in the process. With special thanks to EU Commissioner for Science and Innovation, Carlos Moedas and Communications Assistant, Laura Hemmati.
http://ec.europa.eu/index_en.htm
Healthcare workers are now aware that, put simply, antibiotics aren’t working well anymore and there aren’t any new ones. There have been only two new classes of antibiotics put on the market during the past 30 years
www.euresearcher.com
31