Towards the sustainable discovery and development of new antibiotics

• Published in: Nature reviews. Chemistry Vol. 5; no. 10; pp. 726 - 749
• Main Authors: Miethke, Marcus, Pieroni, Marco, Weber, Tilmann, Brönstrup, Mark, Hammann, Peter, Halby, Ludovic, Arimondo, Paola B., Glaser, Philippe, Aigle, Bertrand, Bode, Helge B., Moreira, Rui, Li, Yanyan, Luzhetskyy, Andriy, Medema, Marnix H., Pernodet, Jean-Luc, Stadler, Marc, Tormo, José Rubén, Genilloud, Olga, Truman, Andrew W., Weissman, Kira J., Takano, Eriko, Sabatini, Stefano, Stegmann, Evi, Brötz-Oesterhelt, Heike, Wohlleben, Wolfgang, Seemann, Myriam, Empting, Martin, Hirsch, Anna K. H., Loretz, Brigitta, Lehr, Claus-Michael, Titz, Alexander, Herrmann, Jennifer, Jaeger, Timo, Alt, Silke, Hesterkamp, Thomas, Winterhalter, Mathias, Schiefer, Andrea, Pfarr, Kenneth, Hoerauf, Achim, Graz, Heather, Graz, Michael, Lindvall, Mika, Ramurthy, Savithri, Karlén, Anders, van Dongen, Maarten, Petkovic, Hrvoje, Keller, Andreas, Peyrane, Frédéric, Donadio, Stefano, Fraisse, Laurent, Piddock, Laura J. V., Gilbert, Ian H., Moser, Heinz E., Müller, Rolf
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 2021; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 631/154/2426; 692/700/565/1436; Analytical Chemistry; Antibiotics; Antimicrobial agents; Biochemistry; Chemical Sciences; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Chemistry/Food Science; Drug resistance; Inorganic Chemistry; Medicinal Chemistry; Organic Chemistry; Physical Chemistry; Public health; Roadmap; Sustainable development; Drug therapy; Business strategy in drug development
• ISSN: 2397-3358; 2397-3358
• DOI: 10.1038/s41570-021-00313-1

An ever-increasing demand for novel antimicrobials to treat life-threatening infections caused by the global spread of multidrug-resistant bacterial pathogens stands in stark contrast to the current level of investment in their development, particularly in the fields of natural-product-derived and synthetic small molecules. New agents displaying innovative chemistry and modes of action are desperately needed worldwide to tackle the public health menace posed by antimicrobial resistance. Here, our consortium presents a strategic blueprint to substantially improve our ability to discover and develop new antibiotics. We propose both short-term and long-term solutions to overcome the most urgent limitations in the various sectors of research and funding, aiming to bridge the gap between academic, industrial and political stakeholders, and to unite interdisciplinary expertise in order to efficiently fuel the translational pipeline for the benefit of future generations.
Antimicrobial resistance is an increasing threat to public health and encouraging the development of new antimicrobials is one of the most important ways to address the problem. This Roadmap article aims to bring together industrial, academic and political partners, and proposes both short-term and long-term solutions to this challenge.