COMS

Antibiotics, more than any other medicines, have improved the life expectancy of mankind, however, multi-drug resistance has become common in pathogenic bacteria and the “magic bullets” are losing efficacy. Recent reports on the occurrence of panresistant gram-negative strains, i.e. strains resistant to every registered antibacterial drug, indicate that we are on the verge to lose the battle, taking us back to the pre-antibiotic era. There is world-wide consensus that the medical need for novel antiinfective drugs is enormous and that we are running out of time. Many achievements of modern medicine, not only treatment of infectious diseases, depend on the availability of efficacious antibiotics, still, the antibacterial development pipeline is drying up and the number of new drugs reaching the market is alarmingly low. There are many reasons for this at all levels of the discovery and development process. Major investments into research and technologies did not pay off; socioeconomic considerations together with regulatory hurdles have prompted big pharma to exit the field and innovative biotech companies were confronted with problems beyond their control. Answers are needed as to where and how we can find new lead compounds with unprecedented activities? How to bridge substantial gaps between academic and industry with translational research? How to make antibiotic development a profitable business?

The “New Antibacterial Discovery & Development" GRC seeks to analyze the current situation and to identify answers. It will provide an international forum for researchers of multiple backgrounds to exchange ideas and discuss their views of the problems, to present most recent discoveries and technologies and thus to contribute to the future availability of life-saving antibiotic drugs.