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The AMR Accelerator: from individual organizations to efficient antibiotic development partnerships

The AMR Accelerator is an Innovative Medicines Initiative programme integrating nine projects with the shared goal of progressing the development of new antibiotics and building antimicrobial resistance research capability. Five years in, we reflect on the programme’s value, results and key challenge: ensuring the sustainability of assets, infrastructures and expertise.
By
  1. Josepine Fernow

    1. Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden. *These authors contributed equally.

  2. Marie Olliver

    1. Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden. *These authors contributed equally.

  3. William Couet

    1. Inserm U1070, Université de Poitiers, Poitiers, France.

  4. Sophie Lagrange

    1. Evotec ID (Lyon) SAS, Lyon, France.

  5. Meindert H. Lamers

    1. Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.

  6. Ole F. Olesen

    1. European Vaccine Initiative, Heidelberg, Germany.

  7. Kristina Orrling

    1. Lygature, Utrecht, The Netherlands.

  8. Michel Pieren

    1. BioVersys AG, Basel, Switzerland.

  9. Derek J. Sloan

    1. Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK.

  10. Juan José Vaquero

    1. Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.

  11. Timothy J. Miles

    1. Global Health R&D, GlaxoSmithKline,Tres Cantos, Spain.‡These authors contributed equally.

  12. Anders Karlén

    1. Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden. ‡These authors contributed equally.

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Nature Reviews Drug Discovery 24, 1-2 (2025)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41573-024-00138-9

Acknowledgements

The authors (members of the nine AMR Accelerator projects) thank all colleagues and partners involved in the AMR Accelerator and gratefully acknowledge the COMBINE Coordination and Support Office, the AMR Accelerator Coordination Committee, Science Communication Interest Group, and participants in the AMR Accelerator cross-project meetings in 2023 and 2024 for providing valuable insights. The authors wish to thank the AMR Accelerator Communications Advisory Board for critically reading the manuscript. The projects have received support from the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking under Grant Agreements No 853967 I 853989 I 853979 I 853932 I 853800 I 853903 I 853976 I 101007873 I 101034420. This Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and EFPIA. ERA4TB receives additional support from Global Alliance for TB Drug Development, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and University of Dundee. UNITE4TB receives additional support from Deutsches Zentrum für Infektionsforschung e. V. (DZIF), and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU). EFPIA/AP contribute to 50% of funding, whereas the contribution of DZIF and the LMU University Hospital Munich has been granted by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. This article reflects the authors’ views. Neither IMI nor the European Union, EFPIA, or any Associated Partners are responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained herein.

References

  1. Antimicrobial Resistance Collaborators. Global burden of bacterial antimicrobial resistance in 2019: a systematic analysis. Lancet 399, 629–655 (2022).

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  2. OECD. Embracing a One Health Framework to Fight Antimicrobial Resistance, OECD Health Policy Studies. OECD Publishing https://doi.org/10.1787/ce44c755-en (2023).

  3. Uppsala University. Collaboration to improve the quality of in vivo antibiotics testing. EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1007971 (2024).

  4. AMR Industry Alliance. Leaving the Lab: Tracking the Decline in AMR R&D Professionals. AMR Industry Alliance https://www.amrindustryalliance.org/mediaroom/leaving-the-lab-tracking-the-decline-in-amr-rd-professionals (2024).

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Supplementary Information

  1. Supplementary tables

Competing Interests

M.P. is employed by BioVersys AG and holds stocks in the company. T.J.M. is employed by GSK and owns shares in the company.

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