EFPIA welcomes the adoption of the own initiative report on AMR
21.06.18
EFPIA welcomes the adoption of the own initiative report on “A European One Health Action Plan against Antimicrobial Resistance” by the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) Committee of the European Parliament on 20 June 2018.
The Committee is calling on the Commission and the Member States to support the development and uptake of new economic models, pilot projects and push and pull incentives to boost the development of new antimicrobials, vaccines and rapid diagnostics and urges the Commission to “consider a new legislative framework to stimulate the development of new antimicrobials for humans”.
EFPIA and its members strongly support measures that would encourage the development and deployment of new antimicrobials, vaccines and rapid diagnostic tests to combat the emergence of antimicrobial resistance. We welcome the Committee's acknowledgment of the role that vaccines and rapid diagnostic tools play in preventing healthcare related infections. In addition, we believe that European policy makers should, in cooperation with public and private researchers, find ways to revive the antibiotic pipeline. We welcome the Parliament’s call for robust “pull” incentive models to be designed and piloted in the EU, as part of a comprehensive suite of incentives that effectively addresses failures in the current business model for both early- and late-stage R&D.
In addition, we welcome the ENVI Committee’s support for continued investments in research into AMR in the future Horizon Europe programme. We believe that more investment will be needed in the future if AMR is to be tackled properly.
The report stresses that the correct and prudent use of antimicrobials is essential to limiting the emergence of AMR and that national strategies to address AMR are crucial in this respect. We agree that the European Commission should coordinate the sharing of best practices among Member States and encourage the implementation of bold national strategies against AMR.
The ENVI Committee also calls on the Commission and the Member States to align surveillance, monitoring and reporting of AMR patterns. Industry strongly supports the need for a holistic approach to the monitoring and surveillance of AMR. Member States should share best practices, and optimise data collection measuring antibiotics usage and resistance.
Commenting on the report, EFPIA Director General, Nathalie Moll said. “AMR is a critical global health threat requiring proactive, coordinated action to ensure a sustained response and the pharmaceutical industry remains committed to advance its work in this area and to cooperate towards the shared goal of combating antimicrobial resistance. We look forward to the endorsement of the report by the European Parliament in September in Plenary and to subsequent concrete action by the European Commission as called for in the report, notably in the area of legislation to stimulate the development of solutions to antimicrobial resistance.”