AMR.Solutions

Search
Close this search box.

Dame Sally and #RescueTheLobster: Meetings past and present worth your time

Dear All,

There’s a tidal wave of meetings for you to note! Some have already occurred but can easily be attended via webcast and others are coming. The detailed list is in the meetings calendar (below my signature) … here are highlights of the more recently added meetings:

Fans of Dame Sally (i.e., all the readers of this newsletter!) will want to listen to 4 things, two past, two upcoming:

  • She spoke twice during the recent BEAM-sponsored AMR Conference (link to full conference, link to the Call to Action released by BEAM in parallel):
    • “Spotlight on UK | The Investor Action on AMR” (YouTube link)
    • “The future of AMR – How a new post COVID19 policy roadmap could look like” (YouTube link)
  • And, she will chair two upcoming round table discussions:
    • 10 Sep (online, 7-8.30a EST, noon-1.30p UK): “The global antimicrobial crisis: Rethinking how we secure and value antibiotics for the future.”
      • This was supposed to be a symposium at ECCMID 2020, but now it’s a webinar sponsored by Pfizer.
      • Register here.
    • 24 Sep (online, 9-10.30a EST): “The global movement of microorganisms:  Tracking the spread of difficult-to-treat infections.”
      • This is the first of a 4-part series sponsored by Wellcome Trust entitled “AMR in the Light of COVID-19 Webinar Series; From hypothetical to reality:  How COVID-19 foretells a world without antibiotics”
      • The series will analyze how the COVID-19 pandemic could reshape strategies for combating the threat of antimicrobial resistance around the world.
      • The registration link is not yet out … watch for it in future newsletters or on meetings page of amr.solutions (link). For now, just mark your calendar.
  • The first of these 4 sessions is notable for being a chance to hear Dame Sally discuss lobsters, COVID-19, AMR, and why we should #RescueTheLobster:
    • “COVID-19 is like dropping the lobster into boiling water: you know instantly that you have a problem. AMR, on the other hand, is like gradually heating the water: you don’t know until too late that you have a problem. Right now, we are the lobster in the pot that is slowly heating! The time for action is now!”
  • There’s a lot of great material in these sessions: I highly recommend them all!
  • And for full disclosure, I’m one of the discussants on the 10 Sep round table — and if you are interested, here is the deck I used as either .pdf or .pptx.

Diagnostic developers should take note: The team at the Longitude Prize (link) are holding their 2nd Sprint Workshop, this one entitled “Building Medtech Companies: Learn how to attract investment to fund product development and scale your company.” Details and registration are here.

Developers of therapeutics and preventatives should take note: We couldn’t hold the ASM-ESCMID Bootcamps this year, so they’re being moved online. The first is on 24 Sep 2020 (15.30-17.30 CEST; 9.30-11.30a EST; 7-9p IST), is entitled “Moving from preclinical to clinical-stage: Challenges and opportunities,” and is moderated by Erin Duffy (CARB-X). Go here to register.

The energy in the space is palpable … I am particularly excited about the awareness at senior political levels of the challenge of keeping antibiotics on the market. More to follow on this, I am sure!

With gratitude to all who put their energy into solving the problem of AMR, –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:

  • Novo REPAIR Impact Fund closed its most recent round on 31 Jul 2020. Go here for current details.
  • 2020 funding rounds for CARB-X have not been announced.
  • The Global AMR R&D Hub’s dynamic dashboard (link) summarizes funders and projects by geography, stage, and more.
  • It’s not a funder, but AiCuris’ AiCubator offers incubator support to very early stage projects. Read more about it here.

Upcoming meetings of interest to the AMR community:

  • (it’s over now, but you can still watch it!) 24-28 Aug 2020 BEAM Alliance-sponsored AMR Conference. Go here to access the recorded sessions. This was a very, very good meeting! In particular, please note these two sessions from the final day … both are free on YouTube:
    • [NEW] “Spotlight on UK | The Investor Action on AMR” (link). Chaired by Louise Norton-Smith (Head of Global AMR Strategy & Delivery, UK Dept of Health) with a key note by Dame Sally Davies (UK Special Envoy on AMR) in which we learn why we should #RescueTheLobster (see notes in this newsletter).
    • [NEW] “The future of AMR – How a new post COVID19 policy roadmap could look like” (link). Chaired by Marc Gitzinger (CEO BioVersys and VP of BEAM Alliance, the core sponsor of the AMR Conference), this session has speakers from the Government of India (Renu Swarup), the UK (Dame Sally), FIND (a global non-profit focused on diagnostics, Catharina Boehme, CEO), EU Parliament (Tiemo Woelken, MEP), and the US (Evan Loh, CEO Paratek and Chair of the Antimicrobial Working Group).
  • September 2020. University of Sheffield (UK). Applications are being taken for a new 1-year (full-time) or 2-year (part-time) Masters of Science course in Antimicrobial Resistance. The program runs annually from September and covers microbiology, clinical practice and policy. The course webpage is here.
  • 9-10 Sep 2020 (Washington, DC): US PACCARB public meeting. Go here for details.
  • [NEW] 10 Sep 2020 (online, 7-8.30a EST, noon-1.30p UK): Pfizer-sponsored global roundtable chaired by Dame Sally Davies entitled “The global antimicrobial crisis: Rethinking how we secure and value antibiotics for the future.” This was supposed to be a symposium at ECCMID 2020, but now it’s a webinar. Register here.
  • [NEW] 24 Sep (online, 9-10.30a EST): “The global movement of microorganisms:  Tracking the spread of difficult-to-treat infections”, from a 4-part series sponsored by Wellcome Trust entitled “AMR in the Light of COVID-19 Webinar Series; From hypothetical to reality:  How COVID-19 foretells a world without antibiotics”. No registration link yet … watch for it in future newsletters or on meetings page of amr.solutions (link). For now, just mark your calendar. Really unfortunate overlap with the next meeting, but both are being recorded … you’ll have to pick one to attend live and the other for replay!
  • [NEW] 24 Sep 2020 (online, 15.30-17.30 CEST; 9.30-11.30a EST; 7-9p IST): Antibiotic Bootcamp Series webinar entitled “Moving from preclinical to clinical-stage: Challenges and opportunities.” Moderated by Erin Duffy (CARB-X), this webinar is jointly sponsored by GARDP, CARB-X, Novo REPAIR, JPIAMR, Wellcome Trust, ASM, and ESCMID. Since we can’t the ASM-ESCMID meeting, we’re still going to have the bootcamps! Go here to register.
  • [NEW] 30 Sep 2020 (online, 2pm BST): Longitude Prize Sprint Workshop 2 entitled “Building Medtech Companies: Learn how to attract investment to fund product development and scale your company.” Details and registration are here.
  • 2 Oct 2020 (online meeting): 7th annual Boston Area Antimicrobial Research Network (BAARN) meeting. Go here for details.
  • 21-25 Oct 2020 (online meeting), IDWeek 2020. Go here for details.
  • 26-29 Oct 2020 (online meeting), Annual ESPID meeting (European Society for Pediatric ID, #38)
  • 27 Oct 2020 (online meeting), BARDA Industry Day, a discussion of U.S. Government medical countermeasure priorities. Mark your calendar now and watch this website for details.
  • 9-12 Jul 2021 (Vienna): Annual ECCMID meeting (#31)
  • 18-21 May 2021 (Albuquerque, New Mexico): Biannual meeting of the MSGERC (Mycoses Study Group Education and Research Consortium). Save-the-date announcement is here, details to follow.
  • 20-24 June 2021 (Toronto): International Symposium on Pneumococci and Pneumococcal Diseases (ISPPD-12). Go here for details.
  • 3-7 Jun 2021 (Anaheim), ASM Microbe 2021. Go here for details.
  • 27 Jun-2 Jul 2021 (Ventura, CA): Gordon Research Conference entitled “Antimicrobial Peptides”. Go here for details, go here for the linked 26-27 Jun Gordon Research Seminar that precedes it.
  • 5-21 Aug 2021 (Marine Biology Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA): Residential course entitled “Molecular Mycology: Current Approaches to Fungal Pathogenesis.” This 2-week intensive training program has run annually for many years and gets outstanding reviews. Go here for details.
  • 8-11 Oct 2021 (Aberdeen, Scotland): 10th Trends in Medical Mycology. Go here for details.
  • 16-24 Oct 2021 (Annecy, France): Interdisciplinary Course on Antibiotics and Resistance (ICARe). This is a soup-to-nuts residential course on antibiotics, antibiotic resistance, and antibiotic R&D. The course is very intense, very detailed, and gets rave reviews. Registration is here and is limited to 40 students.
  • 6-11 Mar 2022 (Il Ciocco, Tuscany): Gordon Research Conference entitled “New Antibacterial Discovery and Development”. Go here for details, go here for the linked 5-6 Mar Gordon Research Seminar that precedes it.

Dear All,
 
The IDWeek 2024 program committee is again seeking programs on novel antimicrobial agents and novel diagnostics for presentation in pipeline sessions! Here’s what is sought:

  • “Industry partners are invited to submit antimicrobials that are in preclinical stages of development (Phase II and III preferred) or recently approved after January 2024.
  • “The pipeline sessions will include antibacterials, antifungals, and antivirals (excluding COVID-19 and HIV).
  • “The committee also invites companies developing novel diagnostic technologies with a minimum of some preliminary proof of concept data to submit.” 

This is a great opportunity to tell the story of your development project! The deadline to submit is Wednesday, June 26 via the application portal. Any questions should be directed to program@idsociety.org. Please share this email with anyone you think might be interested in applying!
 
In addition, I’ll also note that those with a more general story to tell should look at the BugHub Stage (and the Global BugHub stage). Both BugHub variants seek “presentations that touch on your experience of working in infectious diseases and presentations that ultimately lead to a greater understanding of our diverse field” via a TED Talk-esque speech about your work. The deadline for applications is 26 June, the same as for the pipeline sessions.

I look forward to seeing you there! 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.

John’s Top Recurring Meetings

Virtual meetings are easy to attend, but regular attendance at annual in-person events is the key to building your network and gaining deeper insight. My personal favorites for such in-person meetings are below. Of particular value for developers are the AMR Conference and the ASM-ESCMID conference. Hope to see you there!

  • 27-30 April 2024 (Barcelona, Spain): 34th ECCMID, the annual meeting of the European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. Go here for details. 
  • 17-20 Sep 2024 (Porto, Portugal): ASM/ESCMID Joint Conference on Drug Development to Meet the Challenge of Antimicrobial Resistance. Go here for the meeting’s general website. You can’t register (yet) for the 2024 event, but save the date!
  • 16-20 Oct 2024 (Los Angeles, USA): IDWeek 2024, the annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Save the date! More details to come!
  • 25-26 February 2025 (Basel, Switzerland): The 9th AMR Conference 2025. Go here to register! 

Upcoming meetings of interest to the AMR community:

  • [NEW]  9 Apr 2024 (virtual, 830a-10a ET): GARDP’s next REVIVE webinar entitled “Progressing a discovery project – Criteria and challenges.” Register here.
  • [NEW] 9 Apr 2024 (virtual, 10a-1130a ET): CDC webinar “Impacts of Antimicrobial Resistance on Cancer Care.” Click here for details and to register.
  • 10-11 Apr 2024 (virtual): Sepsis Alliance AMR Conference, a 2-day conference focused on “Practical technologies to manage sepsis and counteract the expanding challenge of antimicrobial resistance.” Go here for details and to register.
  • 26 Apr 2024 (Barcelona, Spain): ESCMID workshop entitled “Using Data Science and Machine Learning for Infection Science: A Hands-on Introduction.” Click here to register or here for more details. 
  • 27-30 April 2024 (Barcelona, Spain): 34th ECCMID, the annual meeting of the European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. See Recurring Meetings list, above.
  • 26-31 May 2024 (Montreal, Canada): EDAR7, the McGill AMR Centre’s 7th edition of their Environmental Dimension of Antimicrobial Resistance conference. Go here for details; final abstract deadline is 21 Dec 2023.
  • 28-29 May 2024 (in person, Uppsala, Sweden): Uppsala Antibiotic Days, a broad-ranging 2-day program hosted by the Uppsala Antibiotic Center. Go here for details and to register.
  • [NEW] 30-31 May 2024 (face-to-face in Rockville, Maryland as well as online, 8.30-5.30p ET on 30 May, 9-2.40p on 31 May): NIAID-sponsored workshop entitled “Towards realizing the promise of adjunctive immune therapy for invasive fungal infections”. The agenda covers host immunity to invasive fungal infections, immune modulators in the context of fungal infections; and strategies for testing immune modulators as adjunctive therapy. Go here for more details and to register.
  • 9-13 June 2024 (in person, Ascona, Switzerland): “New Approaches to Combat Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria, 2nd Edition” is a Sunday-Thursday residential workshop focused on the deep biology of AMR. Sponsored by NCCR AntiResist (a Swiss National Science Foundation consortium), the scientific program has the feel of a Gordon Conference. Space is limited, so you are encouraged to apply promptly — go here for details.
  • 13-17 June 2024 (Atlanta, Georgia): ASM Microbe, the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. You can’t register yet, but you can go here for general details.
  • 17-20 Sep 2024 (Porto, Portugal): ASM/ESCMID Joint Conference on Drug Development to Meet the Challenge of Antimicrobial Resistance. See Recurring Meetings list, above.
  • 16-20 Oct 2024 (Los Angeles, USA): IDWeek 2024, the annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. See Recurring Meetings list, above. 
  • 19-27 Oct 2024 (Annecy, France, residential in-person program): ICARe (Interdisciplinary Course on Antibiotics and Resistance). Now in its 8th year, Patrice Courvalin directs the program with the support of an all-star scientific committee and faculty. The resulting soup-to-nuts training covers all aspects of antimicrobials, is very intense, and routinely gets rave reviews! Seating is limited, so mark your calendars now if you are interested. Applications open in March 2024 — go here for more details.
  • 4-5 Dec 2024 (in person, Washington, DC): “Fungal Dx 2024: Fungal Diagnostics in Clinical Practice” is a 2-day in-person workshop organized by ISHAM‘s Fungal Diagnostics Working Group. The program and registration links are available at https://fungaldx.com/; the agenda is comprehensive and features an all-star global list of speakers.

Share

More Newsletters

OHE £40k Policy Innovation Prize: AMR, anyone?

Dear All, One of your alert co-readers (Abigail Herron) pointed out to me the currently open call for applications for the OHE (Office of Health Economics) Innovation Policy Prize, a biennial £40k prize seeking “to promote thought leadership and solution-based theories around the big questions affecting the future of our industry.” Intriguingly for the AMR community, their

WHO call for data on pre-clinical antifungal R&D projects

Dear All, As part of their long-running project to maintain a useful view of the global antibacterial and antifungal pipelines, WHO yesterday announced a call for data on pre-clinical antifungal R&D projects. The scope is anything from Lead Optimization to pre-IND. Here are the links you need: The WHO webpage describing the call for data

GLG-AMR: AMR will lower global life expectancy by 1.8y. The fix pays for itself.

Dear All (moderately wonkish, so settle in for the ride — and the reason for the title of this newsletter will become obvious!), The GLG AMR (Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance) released a report on 3 April 2024 providing recommendations for consideration by UN Member States in the outcome document of the High-Level Meeting (HLM) on

48,015 → 0: Antibacterial discovery is hard. Really, really hard.

Dear All (and with thanks to Patricia Bradford for co-authoring this newsletter), When you are seeking novelty, antibacterial discovery is hard … really, really, REALLY hard. And it gets even harder if you want activity vs. Gram-negative bacteria. As the latest proof of this, a paper from GARDP’s Blasco et al. describing use of an

More Newsletters
Subscribe

AMR.Solutions

Using ideas to connect, create, and inspire

Twitter Facebook Linkedin Envelope Instagram Youtube

Supported by the Wellcome Trust

Search

Privacy Policy

Site Map

Scroll to Top