Antimicrobial resistance: The unseen threat to global health – what you need to know

Scientists around the world are developing revolutionary mRNA-based drugs. However, we’re facing an even greater challenge that’s not getting the attention it deserves— and it’s something that impacts every one of us.

Below are key insights from recent scientific papers that underscore the gravity of this issue. Yes, it concerns each and every one of us, whether we’re aware of it or not.

The Rising Threat of Superbugs

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the biggest health threats of our time, and we’re falling dangerously behind in the fight against it. AMR happens when bacteria, viruses, and parasites evolve to resist the drugs that once killed them. This could mean that simple surgeries and minor infections become deadly again.

Despite knowing how serious this problem is, progress has been slow. Why? Because tackling AMR requires big changes in healthcare, farming, and the environment. It’s a complex issue that needs not just medical research, but also global teamwork, new rules, and a big shift in how we develop and use drugs.

A Roadmap to Combat AMR

To tackle AMR, we need a mix of solutions that work together—but putting them into action is tough. First, we need a huge boost in investment and global incentives for creating new antibiotics. The pipeline for new drugs has run dry, and biotech companies are dropping out.

Historically, pharmaceutical companies haven’t wanted to invest in new antibiotics because it’s expensive and doesn’t pay off well. But efforts continue to create new economic models to encourage innovation in this field. For example, a report from Deloitte found that the cost of developing a new drug has skyrocketed by 15% to about $2.3 billion.

We also need a global framework to regulate antibiotic use, especially in healthcare and agriculture, where they’re often overused. Improving diagnostics and matching the right antibiotic to the right infection is key. Public education campaigns and better infection control in hospitals can also help limit the spread of superbugs. But these solutions need strong political will, global cooperation, and strict enforcement, which are often missing.

A Grim Parallel with Climate Change

Our failure to tackle AMR is similar to how we’ve dealt with climate change: we know the problem is serious, but our response has been slow and fragmented. Addressing AMR requires coordination across industries, borders, and sectors, making it tough to get everyone on board. Vested interests and bureaucratic hurdles slow things down. We hope to see changes in health policy, especially in Washington, giving AMR the urgent attention it needs.

We need a global approach, free from short-term politics, with long-term strategies to change our priorities. If we don’t act decisively now, future generations will face catastrophic consequences as common infections become harder to treat. The question isn’t whether we need action, but whether we have the determination, as Einstein put it, to stay with the problem longer than it gets out of hand.

Editor-in-Chief Damian Doherty

The Reality of Antimicrobial Resistance

Antimicrobials have saved billions of lives over the past century, but deaths from AMR have skyrocketed over the past 30 years. Despite numerous companies and early-stage research working to bring new treatments to market, success is elusive due to cost recovery issues.

The ability of some pathogenic bacteria to resist antibiotics became apparent soon after drugs like penicillin began to be produced in large quantities in the 1940s. Indeed, resistance to penicillin was identified as early as 1944, but it wasn’t until the early 1990s that researchers realized how serious AMR could be.

In 2019, 4.95 million deaths were attributable to AMR infections, and 1.27 million deaths were directly attributable to bacterial AMR, compared to 4.78 million deaths and 1.06 million directly attributable to bacterial infections in 1990.

Last year, the WHO published a report on the current antibacterial potential worldwide. By 2023, there were 97 treatments in antibacterial development, up from 80 in 2021. But experts say this is not enough to counter the rapid rise in resistance to both new and existing antibiotics.

The same report revealed that 13 new antibiotics have been approved by regulatory bodies such as the FDA or EMA since July 2017, but only two belong to a new class of drugs or can be defined as innovative.

While new antibacterial drugs are undoubtedly needed, resistance to other pathogens, such as fungal infections, may remain in the shadows. For rare and potentially dangerous fungi with rising infection rates, and growing resistance to the few available treatments like azoles, the development of new antifungal drugs is a priority.

For people with weakened immune systems, another fungus may pose a more serious threat. It evades elimination from human lung surface cells by binding to human protein, as published in the journal Cell Host & Microbe in a paper titled “Aspergillus fumigatus uses human protein p11 to redirect fungi-containing phagosomes along a non-degrading pathway.”

So, we suggest that you consider a few transparent theses before addressing the topic of how to respond when an unstoppable and invisible wave of microorganisms begins to affect you and your families.