Dear All,
As all regular readers of this newsletter know, I think that creation of suitable Pull incentives by passage of the PASTEUR Act in the United States is THE key to building a vibrant pipeline of products to address the international problem of AMR.
PASTEUR came very close to passage at the end of 2022 … but not quite. Given that we now have a new Congress, it’s time to start pushing for PASTEUR to happen in 2023.
To that end, IDSA, BIO, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Partnership to Fight Infectious Diseases, and The Pew Charitable Trusts invite you to sign a letter (view it as .docx or .pdf) urging Congress to advance the PASTEUR Act on any moving legislative vehicle this year, including reauthorization of the Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA).
You can show your support by signing on this form by the end of the day on Tue 7 March 2023. Identical copies of this letter will be sent to the chairs and ranking members of the Senate HELP and House Energy & Commerce Committees, as well as the Senators and Representatives on those committees who are leading PAHPA reauthorization.
The letter is very similar to letters many have previously signed in support of PASTEUR. A key difference is the addition of language explaining how AMR impacts preparedness for outbreaks and pandemics, natural disasters like hurricanes, and bioterror events.
Momentum is strong for PASTEUR with many supportive stakeholders … and this is a chance for you to add your voice! Passage as part of reauthorization of PAHPA is particularly timely opportunity as Congress is expected to take up reauthorization this year.
Please sign now! All best wishes, –jr
John H. Rex, MD | Chief Medical Officer, F2G Ltd. | Operating Partner, Advent Life Sciences. Follow me on Twitter: @JohnRex_NewAbx. See past newsletters and subscribe for the future: https://amr.solutions/blog/. All opinions are my own.
Current funding opportunities (most current list is here)
- JPIAMR call for projects on AMR Diagnostics and Surveillance. Under the collaborative umbrella of ERA-NET, this JPIAMR-ACTION project seeks development of innovative strategies, tools, technologies, and methods for diagnostics and surveillance of antimicrobial resistance. The project involves 23 funders from 19 countries and the total estimated call budget is about 19,1 million Euro. Go here for the full webpage on the call. Pre-proposals are due by 7 Mar 2023.
- NIAID BAA with a biodefense focus: Vaccines, Therapeutics, and Diagnostics are all in scope. See this newsletter for details; various due dates through 11 April 2023.
- Current funding rounds from CARB-X are as described in this newsletter!
- The AMR Action Fund is now open to proposals for funding of Phase 2 / Phase 3 antibacterial therapeutics. Per its charter, the fund prioritizes investment in treatments that address a pathogen prioritized by the WHO, the CDC and/or other public health entities that: (i) are novel (e.g., absence of known cross-resistance, novel targets, new chemical classes, or new mechanisms of action); and/or (ii) have significant differentiated clinical utility (e.g., differentiated innovation that provides clinical value versus standard of care to prescribers and patients, such as safety/tolerability, oral formulation, different spectrum of activity); and (iii) reduce patient mortality. It is also expected that such agents would have the potential to strongly address the likely requirements for delinked Pull incentives such as the UK (NHS England) subscription pilot and the PASTEUR Act in the US. Submit queries to contact@amractionfund.com.
- BARDA’s long-running BAA-18-100-SOL-00003 offers support for both antibacterial and antifungal agents. This BAA has offered 4 deadlines/year since 2018 … check the most current amendment for details.
- INCATE (Incubator for Antibacterial Therapies in Europe) is an early-stage funding vehicle supporting innovation vs. drug-resistant bacterial infections. The fund provides advice, community, and non-dilutive funding (€10k in Stage I and up to €250k in Stage II) to support early-stage ventures in creating the evidence and building the team needed to get next-level funding. Details and contacts on their website (https://www.incate.net/).
- It’s not a funder, but AiCuris’ AiCubator offers incubator support to very early stage projects. Read more about it here.
- The Global AMR R&D Hub’s dynamic dashboard (link) summarizes the global clinical development pipeline, incentives for AMR R&D, and investors/investments in AMR R&D.
- In addition to the lists provided by the Global AMR R&D Hub, you might also be interested in my most current lists of R&D incentives (link) and priority pathogens (link).
Upcoming meetings of interest to the AMR community (most current list is here):
- 16 Mar 2023 (virtual, noon-1.30p CET): Webinar entitled “WHO AMR Costing & budgeting tool: A review and country experiences” from WHO’s series entitled “WHO Global Webinar Series to Support Implementation of National Action Plans on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).” Go here to register.
- 16-17 Mar 2023 (timings suggest hybrid EU-US): 7th AMR Conference, hosted by the BEAM Alliance with many co-sponsors. This has historically been a very good networking event. Go here for details.
- 23-24 March 2023 (virtual, 10a-4p ET): 23rd Meeting of the Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic Resistance (PACCARB). The PACCARB will vote on the report from the Pandemic Preparedness Working Group (PPWG) on how to strengthen defenses against AMR pathogens in the face of a potential future, large-scale disease event. Go here for details and to register.
- 14 Apr 2023 (Copenhagen, Denmark; 3-6.30p CEST): ECCMID and the Global Leaders Group on AMR will jointly sponsor a symposium entitled “Forging partnerships between science and policy in Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).” Go here to register.
- 15-18 Apr 2023 (Copenhagen, Denmark): 33rd ECCMID. Go here for details and to register.
- 26 Apr 2023 (virtual, noon-1.30p CET): Webinar entitled “WHO Human health AMR research agenda” from WHO’s series entitled “WHO Global Webinar Series to Support Implementation of National Action Plans on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).” Go here to register.
- 8-12 May 2023 (Lisbon, Portugal): 41st Annual Meeting of the European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases. Go here for details.
- 7-15 Oct 2023 (residential, Annecy, France): ICARe, the Interdisciplinary Course on Antibiotics and Resistance. Now in its 7th year, this course is a deep-dive into the world of antibiotic development. Intense, rigorous, and HIGHLY recommended. Seats are always limited … apply sooner rather than later! Go here for details.
- 20-23 Oct 2023 (Athens, Greece): 11th TIMM (Trends in Medical Mycology). Go here for details.