Vous n'êtes pas encore inscrit ?
Inscription
2017 marks the beginning of a strong collective fight aimed at setting up initiatives to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR) on a national and international level ?
European BEAM Alliance emphasises key role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as major innovators and presents a set of guidelines on how to more effectively reinforce and support antibacterial research and development (R&D) by SMEs ? Globally, some 250 biotech companies are focusing on developing new drugs to combat AMR – The 40 BEAM members alone have more than 100 new drug candidates in their pipelines including many novel breakthrough approaches
Paris (France), November 16th, 2017 – In 2017, the collective fight to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has experienced a new upswing. Following the eye-opening report of British economist Lord Jim O’Neill, policymakers, funding bodies and national governments set up a series of new initiatives to accelerate drug development by supporting research and development (R&D) in the AMR field.
Taking advantage of the World Antibiotic Awareness Week (WHO) and 2 days before the European Antibiotic Awareness Day (Nov 18, 2017), the European BEAM alliance, representing 40 ‘Biopharmaceutical companies from Europe innovating in AntiMicrobial resistance’ research, today released a position paper to acknowledge these efforts and to highlight the important role that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are playing as innovators.
The document lists ten (10) guidelines as to how antibacterial R&D could be revived and proposes specific support for SME-driven innovation in the AMR field. The alliance particularly demands that policymakers understand the specific nature and needs of SMEs to design effective PUSH and PULL mechanisms.
1. Adequately-shaped incentive mechanisms that ultimately rewards R&D evidence
2. Health Technology Assessment recognising the true value of SME innovation
3. Dedicated regulatory pathways to support the specific needs of AMR projects and act as prequalification criteria to some PUSH/PULL incentive mechanisms
4. PUSH incentives and funding mechanisms that are directed to SMEs, calibrated and accessible for SMEs in practice
5. Calibrated Market Entry Rewards (MER) to ensure continuous and sustainable innovation from academics to biotech companies and to large pharma players
6. R&D prizes and phase entry rewards as effective PULL mechanisms for SMEs to incentivise the most underserved indications in AMR
7. Targeted tax incentives specifically addressing SMEs to incentivise private investments into AMR-focused companies and/or avoid de-prioritization
8. Going beyond to exploit all possibilities for AMR from SMEs
9. Support education to strengthen attractiveness of the field for R&D professionals/scientists
10. Long term thinking and wisely usage of AMR innovations combined with appropriate diagnostics development
Marie Petit, coordinator of the BEAM alliance, says: “Existing SMEs in the AMR field are true pioneers! Despite a much-underserved ecosystem to fund and perform R&D, they fight to make the difference for millions of patients and come up with very innovative approaches – both antibacterial and non-antibacterial (prevention, anti-virulence, anti-biofilm, phages, microbiome protection…). They carry the hope for the coming decades and it is of upmost importance that policymakers and countries involved in the fight against AMR make sure their policies are laser focused on SMEs need and none is left behind until the ecosystem is properly revived.”
“Due to their versatile properties, bacteria are evolving resistance faster than policymakers are implementing action. It is of enormous importance to ultimately revive R&D in AMR by developing compelling surveillance data, encouraging out-of-the-box thinking, rewarding R&D evidence and strengthening existing scientific expertise.” adds Marc Gitzinger, CEO of BioVersys AG, Switzerland, Vice-President of the BEAM Alliance.
Marc Lemonnier, CEO of Antabio SAS, France, Member of the Management Board of the BEAM Alliance comments: “Globally, some 250 SMEs are working on new antibacterial strategies. SMEs are the crucial innovation engine in the AMR field. Addressing the specific requirements of SME-driven innovation within current AMR initiatives is key in order to provide patients with effective drugs that can win the fight against AMR.”
In March 2018, the BEAM alliance together with Berlin-based BIOCOM AG will invite key players to a one-day-conference, providing a discussion platform for addressing the specific challenges of SMEs in developing new antimicrobials and AMR diagnostics. The Berlin Conference 2018 expects more than 200 high-level representatives from policy, academia, industry and the finance sector. “We will have more than 40 speakers, among them over half from SMEs, to explore the best business strategies in the AMR R&D arena.” says Sandra Wirsching from BIOCOM AG, a life science-focused publishing house. The event is further supported by the German Fraunhofer Society and the EU-funded “European Gram Negative Anti-Bacterial Engine” (ENABLE) consortium.
About the BEAM Alliance:
The BEAM Alliance (Biopharmaceutical companies from Europe innovating in Anti-Microbial resistance research) plays a key role working on a European and national level to represent the interests of its 40 members. The BEAM members are collectively developing more than 100 new compounds focused upon the cure and prevention of bacterial infections. They cover the whole range of pharmaceutical drug development from small molecule antibiotics, antibiotic combinations, phages, antibodies, prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines, peptides, prebiotics, other bioproducts, adjunctive therapies and medical devices, thus representing the large majority of all European companies actively working on AMR. The goal of the BEAM alliance is to maintain and promote awareness of SME-driven innovation in the field and to support policymakers in understanding economic business models around AMR. The BEAM Alliance closely cooperates with all stakeholders dedicated to the fight against AMR.
www.beam-alliance.eu
