In a Thursday´s statement, WHO revealed that none of the 43 antibiotics that are currently in clinical development sufficiently address the problem of drug-resistance in the world´s most dangerous bacteria.

Nearly all the new antibiotics that have been brought to market in recent decades are variations of antibiotic drugs classes that had been discovered by the 1980s.

Experts warned that the impact of AMR is most severe in resource-constrained settings and among vulnerable groups such as newborns and young children.

Bacterial pneumonia and bloodstream infections are among the major causes of childhood mortality under the age of 5, and approximately 30% of neonates with sepsis die due to bacterial infections resistant to multiple first-line antibiotics.

The 2020 report revealed a near static pipeline with only few antibiotics being approved by regulatory agencies in recent years.

On the other hand, the 2020 WHO pipeline report first time includes a comprehensive overview of non-traditional antibacterial medicines. It includes 27 non-traditional antibacterial agents in the pipeline ranging from antibodies to bacteriophages and therapies that support the patient´s immune response and weaken the effect of the bacteria. The COVID-19 crisis has deepened the global understanding of the health and economic implications of an uncontrolled pandemic. It also accentuated the gaps in sustainable funding to address these risks, including investments in R&D of antimicrobial medicines and vaccines, whilst revealing what rapid progress can be made when there is enough political will and enterprise.

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