Why the World is losing the race against superbugs

In an article for People Daily, Lavender Kusimba covers the launch of the 2026 Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Benchmark, highlighting the threat that superbugs pose to public health and drawing out key takeaways from the report’s findings.

The article highlights the report’s key finding that the pipeline of antimicrobial projects made by large, research-based pharmaceutical companies declined by more than one-third in the five years since the last Benchmark was published.

It also mentions the report’s the seven late-stage antimicrobial projects identified among companies assessed in the report, developed by GSK, Otsuka, Shionogi, BioVersys, F2G, Innoviva and Venatorx, but notes that these developments “remain isolated successes rather than an industry-wide shift.”

Jayasree K. Iyer, CEO of the Access to Medicine Foundation is quoted: “We can tilt the battle against superbugs in humanity’s favour. Our findings show practical approaches that can ramp up progress on all fronts.”