Gaijin Panty

Here’s a statistic you might not have known: an estimated 700,000 people die each year due to the growing number of infections resistant to treatment. Known as antimicrobial resistance (AMR), this “silent killer” and looming public health threat has severe social and economic consequences that could have a lasting impact on families, individuals and communities across the globe.

How best to tackle that problem will be the subject of the World Antimicrobial Resistance Congress later this month. Now in its fourth year, the Congress will take place October 25-26, 2018 here in Washington, DC, where over 400 stakeholders from around the world will discuss strategies and commercial approaches to combat AMR.

This year’s event will consist of three streams on Antibiotic R&D, Diagnostics, and Antimicrobial Stewardship, as well as a fourth stream called Innovation Showcase where antibiotic biotech companies and diagnostics innovators will be pitching to investors.

One of the highlights of this year’s show will be the keynote panel entitled Coordinated Pull, where our panelists will discuss how to make tangible “pull” incentives a reality. Dr. Gregory Frank, BIO’s director of infectious diseases policy, will be moderating the panel. He will be joined by:

• Mark Jones, Head of Clinical Development and Preclinical Development, Basilea Pharmaceutica
• Jeremy Knox, Policy and Advocacy Lead, Drug-Resistant Infections Programme, Wellcome Trust
• Amanda Jezek, Senior Vice President, Public Policy and Government Relations, Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA)
• Silas Holland, Director of Infectious Diseases Policy, Merck
• Christine Årdal, Senior Advisor, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, and Co-Lead, DRIVE-A

These leaders will analyze different commercial models, mainly market entry rewards, transferable vouchers, and FDA proposed licensing model, from a multi stakeholder approach.

Since 2015, the World Antimicrobial Resistance Congress has been the go-to global meeting for AMR stakeholders, and this year’s event is supposed to be the best yet! More information and registration details may be found here.