On 26 April 2016, Julian Sturdy, MP for York Outer, introduced a debate in Westminster Hall on antibiotic resistance and the future of research and development of new antibiotics. One of the most pressing issues for him was the need to incentivise more research and development to finding new antibiotics as we have so few drugs in the pipeline to meet our future needs.
Medical opinion is that the looming global antibiotic resistance crisis can be avoided if we take action now, and the consensus of MPs in the room was that action must be taken sooner than later. With this in mind, those present proclaimed the need for new Government initiatives to be put into place, as the issue is one that has the support of every party within the government. The Government representative George Freeman, MP, Minister for Life Sciences acknowledged the scale of the problem and indicated that once the O’Neill review was published he would be happy to meet with ANTRUK along with the Public Health Minister. He stated that NIHR could not allocate funds to a specific disease area although I fail to see why this is impossible. AMR impacts on almost all diseases and their treatments.
With several MPs present, a wide variety of topics were covered during the 2-hour debate, including the importance of addressing the problem on a global scale, disease prevention and hygiene in hospitals, the use of antibiotics in our animals and food cycle, and making the general public more aware about the overuse of antibiotics. But incentives for companies to develop new antibiotics was the most prevalent topic.
Julian Sturdy said: “Astonishingly, only about 2% of products, or one in 50 proposed new antibiotics, successfully make it to the marketplace. In the vast majority of cases, large sums of money are invested with no financial return whatever. That may explain why so many pharmaceutical companies have, sadly, exited the market over the years. Of the 20 pharmaceutical companies that were the main suppliers of new antibiotics back in the 1990s, only four remain.”
Charities were also highlighted by Julian Sturdy as able to assist with this cause, and he discussed the work that Antibiotic Research UK (ANTRUK) has done so far, showcasing the overuse of antibiotics through the use of hard data and heat maps. He said that the sort of research and expertise that charities like ANTRUK can provide would be an ideal complement to the vital work of Government and the large pharmaceutical companies.
Julian Sturdy MP stated: “The current funding system for antibiotic research is broken, and we need to correct it as soon as possible. The O’Neill review makes it clear that the research and development of antibiotics must be opened up, offering new opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises, academic research teams and not-for-profit entities to compete with established players in the market.
“I hope the Minister will agree to publish a clear timetable on reforming the antibiotic funding model, and I also ask him to meet me and representatives of ANTRUK, who I know have so much to offer in furthering the process of making our next great discoveries.”
It is fantastic to see that Julian Sturdy has raised this debate in Parliament, and that there is such a strong interest across all parties within the government. We urge the conversation to turn to action and funding for the research and development of new antibiotics and that the Third Sector must be involved. We are very hopeful that this debate will push us closer to achieving the goal of fighting antibiotic resistance.
For a transcript of this debate click here and to see the debate on Parliament TV as it happened click here
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