Antimicrobial resistance, or AMR, occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change over time and no longer respond to medicines like antibiotics. These infections become increasingly difficult or impossible to treat, increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness, and death. The situation is so dire that the World Health Organization (WHO) declared AMR to be among the top 10 global public health threats facing humanity.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that more than 2.8 million AMR infections lead to more than 35,000 deaths annually in the United States. Globally, nearly 5 million deaths were associated with AMR bacterial infections in 2019, including an estimated 1.27 million deaths directly attributable to AMR infections. Drug-resistant lower respiratory tract infections and bloodstream infections were the leading causes of death, both have been observed during viral pandemics, including the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since 2010, BARDA’s antibacterials medical countermeasures program has worked with industry to develop better medicines for AMR infections, which undermines the practice of modern medicine. We’ve invested over $1.6 billion dollars and provided end-to-end product development expertise to support 122 antibacterial products, including new technologies and first in class antibiotics, across the development pipeline and three additional BARDA-supported antibacterials are now approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
In 2016, BARDA co-founded what is now the world’s largest public-private partnership, CARB-X, which is dedicated to the early stages of development of innovative medicines, vaccines, and diagnostics to combat or prevent AMR infections. Today, BARDA entered into a new agreement to continue its partnership with Boston University to support CARB-X and its innovative portfolio. Over the next 10 years, BARDA will provide up to $300 million for CARB-X to strengthen the early development pipeline of better products to combat AMR infections.
