Pfizer commits $100m to support development of new antibiotics

Major drugmaker Pfizer has committed $100m to the new Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Action Fund, which will support the development of new antibiotics due to increasing antibiotic-resistant infections.

More than 20 biopharmaceutical companies have collaborated to establish the AMR Action Fund, which will help focus on medicines that address most resistant bacteria and life-threatening infections.

The biopharmaceutical firms intend to develop between two to four new antibiotics by 2030 via collaboration between pharmaceutical companies, philanthropies, development banks, and multilateral organisations.

According to the company, around 700,000 people die from AMR each year and it is estimated that AMR could claim as many as 10 million lives per year by 2050.

Pfizer stated that it applies a multi-pronged approach to tackling AMR and the commitment to the AMR Action Fund is based on the firm’s long-standing work against infectious diseases and reducing health disparities for patients in the US and globally.

Pfizer provides the ATLAS platform, which enables the public to access both antifungal and antibacterial resistance data through a single resource.

Pfizer chairman and chief executive Albert Bourla said: “We strongly believe the world cannot tackle the growing threat of AMR without collaboration – and that it will take a combination of prevention measures, responsible stewardship and innovative thinking to overcome existing obstacles.

“The new AMR Action Fund gives us the vehicle to do that by investing in and stimulating a potentially stronger pipeline for antimicrobial medicines.”

In May this year, Pfizer and Biopharmaceutical New Technologies (BioNTech) have dosed the first participants of a phase 1/2 trial for their Covid-19 vaccine candidate BNT162 in the US.

In March, the companies forged a collaboration to co-develop and supply potential mRNA-based coronavirus vaccines that include BNT162.