Antimicrobial resistance represents a potentially unprecedented global health challenge. Tune in to this episode with Sandoz to learn more about the causes of AMR, why it is such a concern, and some of the actions being taken by pharmaceutical manufacturers to tackle the issue.
[powerpress]
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing concern worldwide and is recognised as one of the leading health challenges by the World Health Organization (WHO).1 With drug resistant infections contributing to nearly 5 million deaths every year2 and costing the European Union (EU) an estimated €1.5 billion per year3 in healthcare costs and productivity losses, AMR is both a scientific and economic issue.
This webinar showcases the Growth Direct System; an RMM (Rapid Microbial Method) that improves on traditional membrane filtration, delivering increased accuracy, a faster time to result, enhanced data integrity compliance, and more control over the manufacturing process.
Key learning points:
Understand the benefits of full workflow microbiology quality control testing automation in radiopharmaceutical production
Learn about ITM’s implementation journey and considerations when evaluating the technology
Find out how the advanced optics and microcolony detection capabilities of Growth Direct® technology impact time to result (TTR).
Don’t miss your chance to learn from experts in the industry –Register for FREE
In this episode, Dr Boumediene Soufi, Head of Antimicrobial Resistance at Sandoz, discusses the challenge of AMR and some of the actions being taken by Sandoz and the wider pharmaceutical industry to address this issue.
What is antimicrobial resistance and why is it a concern today?
Boumediene (‘Bo’) starts by explaining what antimicrobial resistance is and the main factors that contribute to AMR. He also highlights the key virulent antibiotic resistant pathogens that are of concern today.
“Antimicrobial resistance is causing an unprecedented global public health threat,” Bo says.
He reflects on how antibiotics “brought about a whole new level of healthcare and quality of living,” describing them as the “backbone” of modern medicine.
A 2021 report published in the Lancet2 estimated, based on 2019 data, that there are 1.3 million deaths worldwide every year that can be directly attributed to AMR. Putting that in perspective, Bo explains “that means…drug resistant infections are killing more individuals than HIV or malaria.”
“It’s going to require a multi-sectoral, multi-collaborative effort to be able to address antimicrobial resistance,” Bo stresses.
“If we do not…[we could] be approaching what’s known as the post-antibiotic era,” he warns. The potential repercussions – risks to routine surgeries, as well as the economic burden – would be ‘astronomical.’
What are the main challenges related to AMR?
Boumediene Soufi holds the position of Global Head Antimicrobial Resistance at Sandoz.
There are two major challenges related to antimicrobial resistance: the scientific challenge and the economic challenge.
“From the scientific point of view…bacteria are evolving rapidly. It’s very difficult to predict how they are going to evolve their resistance patterns,” Bo explains.
Using antibiotics too much (over prescription), not having access to antibiotics or sub-optimal use (ie, not using the ideal antibiotic for a particular infection), also need to be addressed.
Another big issue is the lack of robust diagnostics for antimicrobial resistance. “We need surveillance programmes to understand the biggest problems of resistance, and then to respond to them in the correct way,” Bo states.
What action is the pharmaceutical industry taking to help prevent antimicrobial resistance?
“The first thing is to acknowledge the threat and to be able to respond,” says Bo. He believes this is being done already, with growing awareness that the issue of antimicrobial resistance needs to be addressed “very, very quickly.”
The industry response can be divided into two parts: action to develop innovative drugs and efforts focused on existing antibiotics.
“Of course, new antibiotics are a solution to the problem but I cannot stress enough, what we currently have is…of equal importance,” Bo says.
“Strong stewardship programmes are absolutely needed to make sure that [we use] the right drug for the right bug,” he adds. The WHO’s Access, Watch, Reserve (AWaRe) tool that helps support antibiotic monitoring and stewardship activities across sectors, is one mechanism assisting with this.
Another key effort is related to responsible access: “ensuring that — regardless of where a patient may be — they have access to the right drug.”
Looking to innovation, Bo highlights the importance of collaboration to support late stages of drug development. Initiatives such as the AMR Action Fund and the Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership both aim to help innovator companies overcome the technical and funding barriers faced during late-stage antibiotic development.
On the generic side, Sandoz follows a “balanced approach” addressing the four pillars established by the AMR Industry Alliance: Innovation; access; responsible use; and responsible manufacturing , Bo says.
Time to act
When asked why it’s important to act to tackle antimicrobial resistance now Bo concludes: “AMR is happening. Whether we like it or not, [AMR] is going to continue to happen based on the ability of bacteria to constantly mutate, but we can curb it significantly.”
“The most important thing is to recognise that it’s not too late…The next thing we need to do is realise that in order to curb AMR, it is going to require collaboration across multiple sectors. That’s what needs to happen in the next five years.”
To learn more about recent efforts to address antimicrobial resistance, listen to the full episode! Please join the conversation and leave your thoughts in the comments – we love hearing your feedback!
Murray C, Ikuta K, Sharara F, et al. Global burden of bacterial antimicrobial resistance in 2019: a systematic analysis. The Lancet. 2022;399(10325):629-655.
This website uses cookies to enable, optimise and analyse site operations, as well as to provide personalised content and allow you to connect to social media. By clicking "I agree" you consent to the use of cookies for non-essential functions and the related processing of personal data. You can adjust your cookie and associated data processing preferences at any time via our "Cookie Settings". Please view our Cookie Policy to learn more about the use of cookies on our website.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorised as ”Necessary” are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. For our other types of cookies “Advertising & Targeting”, “Analytics” and “Performance”, these help us analyse and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these different types of cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. You can adjust the available sliders to ‘Enabled’ or ‘Disabled’, then click ‘Save and Accept’. View our Cookie Policy page.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Cookie
Description
cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertising-targeting
The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Advertising & Targeting".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent WordPress Plugin. The cookie is used to remember the user consent for the cookies under the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent WordPress Plugin. The cookie is used to remember the user consent for the cookies under the category "Performance".
PHPSESSID
This cookie is native to PHP applications. The cookie is used to store and identify a users' unique session ID for the purpose of managing user session on the website. The cookie is a session cookies and is deleted when all the browser windows are closed.
viewed_cookie_policy
The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
zmember_logged
This session cookie is served by our membership/subscription system and controls whether you are able to see content which is only available to logged in users.
Performance cookies are includes cookies that deliver enhanced functionalities of the website, such as caching. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Cookie
Description
cf_ob_info
This cookie is set by Cloudflare content delivery network and, in conjunction with the cookie 'cf_use_ob', is used to determine whether it should continue serving “Always Online” until the cookie expires.
cf_use_ob
This cookie is set by Cloudflare content delivery network and is used to determine whether it should continue serving “Always Online” until the cookie expires.
free_subscription_only
This session cookie is served by our membership/subscription system and controls which types of content you are able to access.
ls_smartpush
This cookie is set by Litespeed Server and allows the server to store settings to help improve performance of the site.
one_signal_sdk_db
This cookie is set by OneSignal push notifications and is used for storing user preferences in connection with their notification permission status.
YSC
This cookie is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos.
Analytics cookies collect information about your use of the content, and in combination with previously collected information, are used to measure, understand, and report on your usage of this website.
Cookie
Description
bcookie
This cookie is set by LinkedIn. The purpose of the cookie is to enable LinkedIn functionalities on the page.
GPS
This cookie is set by YouTube and registers a unique ID for tracking users based on their geographical location
lang
This cookie is set by LinkedIn and is used to store the language preferences of a user to serve up content in that stored language the next time user visit the website.
lidc
This cookie is set by LinkedIn and used for routing.
lissc
This cookie is set by LinkedIn share Buttons and ad tags.
vuid
We embed videos from our official Vimeo channel. When you press play, Vimeo will drop third party cookies to enable the video to play and to see how long a viewer has watched the video. This cookie does not track individuals.
wow.anonymousId
This cookie is set by Spotler and tracks an anonymous visitor ID.
wow.schedule
This cookie is set by Spotler and enables it to track the Load Balance Session Queue.
wow.session
This cookie is set by Spotler to track the Internet Information Services (IIS) session state.
wow.utmvalues
This cookie is set by Spotler and stores the UTM values for the session. UTM values are specific text strings that are appended to URLs that allow Communigator to track the URLs and the UTM values when they get clicked on.
_ga
This cookie is set by Google Analytics and is used to calculate visitor, session, campaign data and keep track of site usage for the site's analytics report. It stores information anonymously and assign a randomly generated number to identify unique visitors.
_gat
This cookies is set by Google Universal Analytics to throttle the request rate to limit the collection of data on high traffic sites.
_gid
This cookie is set by Google Analytics and is used to store information of how visitors use a website and helps in creating an analytics report of how the website is doing. The data collected including the number visitors, the source where they have come from, and the pages visited in an anonymous form.
Advertising and targeting cookies help us provide our visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns.
Cookie
Description
advanced_ads_browser_width
This cookie is set by Advanced Ads and measures the browser width.
advanced_ads_page_impressions
This cookie is set by Advanced Ads and measures the number of previous page impressions.
advanced_ads_pro_server_info
This cookie is set by Advanced Ads and sets geo-location, user role and user capabilities. It is used by cache busting in Advanced Ads Pro when the appropriate visitor conditions are used.
advanced_ads_pro_visitor_referrer
This cookie is set by Advanced Ads and sets the referrer URL.
bscookie
This cookie is a browser ID cookie set by LinkedIn share Buttons and ad tags.
IDE
This cookie is set by Google DoubleClick and stores information about how the user uses the website and any other advertisement before visiting the website. This is used to present users with ads that are relevant to them according to the user profile.
li_sugr
This cookie is set by LinkedIn and is used for tracking.
UserMatchHistory
This cookie is set by Linkedin and is used to track visitors on multiple websites, in order to present relevant advertisement based on the visitor's preferences.
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE
This cookie is set by YouTube. Used to track the information of the embedded YouTube videos on a website.