Dear All (and with a wonkish alert!), The idea of more (and better) vaccines to prevent (or even be part of treating) bacterial infections has long intrigued. We certainly do have several good bacterial vaccines, but why not more? As part of this ongoing discussion, I really enjoyed a paper that came out back in
Update: There is a 14 April 2025 follow-up to this newsletter. Dear All, Prompted by an excellent talk by GARDP’s Jennifer Cohn at last week’s ASM-ESCMID Developer’s conference, today I’d like to pull together several threads showing how responsible manufacturing and access are intertwined. (And if you missed the ASM-ESCMID meeting, you missed some great
Dear All (unapologetically wonkish … very important material!), Let’s set the scene today by considering two quotes: Prosaic: “The successful treatment of patients with cancer has long depended on the capacity to manage infectious complications.” (Shropshire 2025, cited below) Blunt translation: “Your cancer will be controlled, but then you may die of infection.” (Abdul Ghafur,
Dear All (wonkish alert … lots of details here … take your time and absorb it all!), I’ve written several times about the concept of DTR, or Difficult-to-Treat resistance, that was proposed in 2018 by Kadri et al. Today we will consider an important update from Kadri and colleagues in which the idea of DTR
Dear All, We’ve previously discussed the availability of large surveillance datasets from the Vivli AMR Register. In particular, you should review Patricia Bradford’s summary of ways to use these data in the 20 Oct 2024 newsletter entitled “Vivli: Access to Industry’s Susceptibility Surveillance data.” Vivli have now announced their 2025 Vivli AMR Surveillance Data Challenge. This particular challenge is
Dear All, No one is safe until we’re all safe! In the 7 April 2025 newsletter on antibiotic access (“UNSLAP: You reach for the antibiotic … and it’s not there!”), Louise Norton-Smith and I concluded that we need to work to address all the elements of the long and delicate supply chain from manufacturing to local
See also This related newsletter: 14 Jul 2022, entitled “WHO Vaccine Pipeline Review; CDC On Impact Of COVID On AMR.” This 20 Oct 2024 report from WHO: “Estimating the impact of vaccines in reducing antimicrobial resistance and antibiotic use: technical report” This 25 Apr 2024 paper in Lancet Global Health by Hausdorff and colleagues: “Facilitating
Dear All, I was recently asked about a ready summary of the current state of play of Pull incentives around the globe. In response, here are two related resources: First, WHO and the Global AMR R&D Hub jointly author an update on the state of incentives for R&D. Their most current report is dated 14 Oct
Dear All, Sadly, I must report that the 27th meeting of PACCARB (the US Presidential Advisory Council on Combatting Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria) planned for 28-29 Jan 2025 has been cancelled “as the new Administration considers its plan for managing federal policy and public communications.” This 22 Jan 2025 article in the New York Times provides additional details
Dear All, The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) is scheduled to meet 26-28 Feb 2025 (see links below my signature for deeper background on ACIP and how it advises on vaccine use). At least as of today, the ACIP meeting is scheduled to occur as planned: it has a full agenda that covers meningococcal vaccine, influenza