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):
- 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.
- 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.”
- 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.
