Addressing Unmet Patient Needs in Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR): The Vital Role of Industry Partnerships

Interview- Mr Maurizio Luongo and Mr Zhao Hong

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Mr Maurizio Luongo, 

Chief Executive Officer, Menarini Asia-Pacific

Mr Zhao Hong, 

President and Chief Executive Officer, SciClone Pharmaceuticals

What are the barriers to access that are impacting patient outcomes in managing antimicrobial resistance? Why do they exist? 

Mr Luongo: In line with the World Health Organisation's (WHO)'s objective to tackle the emerging threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), Menarini is striving to reduce morbidity and mortality rates by supporting both the responsible use of antibiotics through global antimicrobial stewardship programmes and providing access to novel antibiotics targeting multidrug-resistant infections. However, new treatments alone are insufficient to combat AMR.

The urgent need to accelerate research and development on AMR prevention and care is hampered by the weak pipeline of antibiotic medicines and dearth of anti-infectives that can effectively treat multidrug-resistant infections. Although 60 products¹ are currently in development, the unpredictable, costly and long R&D timelines for antibiotic development impact the availability of new antibiotics. This issue is further exacerbated by the pharmaceutical industry's shift away from antibiotic discovery in favour of medicines targeted towards chronic disease management (e.g., depression and cancer) as they guarantee higher returns on investment.