Option proposed by European Parliament Research Service alongside better EU surveillance coordination
Government requirements to invest in research and innovation into new antimicrobials have been suggested as a way to help tackle the increasing problem of antimicrobial resistance.
“AMR is a growing problem, predicted to cause millions of deaths worldwide in the coming decades,” the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) warned in a briefing note on the problem it published on 28 March.
It said the R&I pipeline for new antimicrobials “has dried up” due to the nature of the pharmaceutical industry and the problem that antimicrobials must be used as little as possible to preserve their effectiveness against the evolution of resistance.
To meet this challenge, the EPRS suggested that “a global R&D pharmaceutical framework, including binding government obligations to invest in R&D”, could form part of the solution, including because tackling AMR will require international cooperation.
EU options
In that vein, among EU-specific options for tackling AMR, the EPRS called for better coordination between the bloc, its member states and other global actors in areas such as data collection and monitoring, on top of further investment in R&I.
A much-delayed revision of the EU’s pharmaceutical regulation, which was scheduled to be set out by the European Commission today but has been delayed again, is expected to include measures to address failures in AMR R&I.
These measures could include regulatory incentives such as extended market-exclusivity periods for treatments and financial support for their developers, the EPRS said.
“Political decisions need to be made on structural reforms of the pharmaceutical system’s current organisation, where the current system of push/pull incentives has not been sufficient to ensure novel antimicrobials and repair existing market failures,” according to the briefing.
It said these reforms could include redefining public-private partnerships, revising intellectual property protections, reinforcing existing EU science networks and “even establishing a public EU R&D body”.
‘Umpteenth postponement’
In late 2020, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on a pharmaceutical strategy for Europe that emphasised the importance of increased investment in R&I for new antibiotics.
The Commission said it would propose revised legislation in 2022, but has repeatedly delayed it. This week, MEPs in the Socialists & Democrats group vented their frustration at the “umpteenth postponement”.
Tiemo Wölken, S&D spokesperson on health, said the latest delay was “indefensible”, pointing out that the revision would “present options to stimulate R&D for much-needed novel antibiotics to counter the increasing threat of antimicrobial resistance”.
