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What steps are companies taking to help curb AMR by manufacturing responsibly?
22 August 2023
Date
23 May 2024
Pharma companies urged to act on antimicrobials to combat drug resistance
India’s Express Pharma writes about the Access to Medicine Foundation’s newest report from its Antimicrobial Resistance Programme, which examines the five antimicrobial projects by pharma companies in late-stage clinical development and their access plans in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
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The article summarises the key insights and corresponding recommendations to address drug resistance in LMICs from the new report.
The article highlights a significant takeaway, which is that concrete commitments for registration were only identified in 5 out of 113 low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) in scope. It is currently unclear whether any of the projects will be made available upon initial approval in the other 108 LMICs, bringing future accessibility of critical drugs in superbug hotspots into question.
Relatedly, it notes that detailed access and stewardship plans should be embedded in companies’ antimicrobial development earlier to ensure that critical drugs can reach the people most vulnerable to drug-resistant pathogens as quickly as possible.
The article also includes a major theme within the report’s recommendations, namely, that forming company partnerships and pursuing licensing agreements are key to increasing reach, but are currently underutilised.