Pharma companies team up for $1bn antibiotics fund

Industry commits $1bn to tackle drug-resistant bacteria and push policymakers to encourage antibiotic development

Twenty-four pharmaceutical companies around the world have joined forces to launch a $1 billion fund for developing new antibiotics. The AMR Action Fund, expected to begin in 2020, aims to bring two to four antibiotics to patients in the next decade.

While antimicrobial resistance is widely recognised as posing a global threat to public health, the pipeline for new antibiotics is running dry, with numerous biotechnology firms ceasing development because of a lack of commercial sustainability.