E-DRUG: Launch of the 2020 AMR Benchmark
--------------------------------------------------
Dear e-drug colleagues,
I'm informing you that the Antimicrobial Resistance Benchmark 2020
was launched today, Tuesday, 21 January, by the Access to Medicine
Foundation. It is now live on our dedicated website at
and available for free to download.
The report measures companies against the consensus view in areas where
they should be contributing to efforts to limit AMR. It is the result of a
two-year cycle including a thorough review and update of the methodology
since the 2018 AMR Benchmark, gathering of stakeholder input, company
input, as well as data collection, analysis, scoring and report writing.
Thanks to all those who contributed to this.
Here is a high-level summary of the Benchmark, and some of the key findings
of this report. For further details and a more in-depth analysis of the
Benchmark please read the full report.
SCOPE OF THE 2020 AMR BENCHMARK
- * 30 companies: The 2020 AMR Benchmark measures 30 companies from three
different categories: 8 large research-based pharmaceutical companies, 9
generic medicine manufacturers, and 13 small- to medium-sized enterprises
with priority R&D projects.
- * Disease scope: The disease scope of the 2020 AMR Benchmark is bacterial
and fungal infections, including tuberculosis. In the evaluation of
antibiotic and antifungal R&D, the Benchmark assesses how companies are
targeting pathogens identified by WHO and the CDC as R&D priorities. In the
evaluation of responsible manufacturing practices, the focus is on
antibacterial products.
- * Geographic scope: The geographic scope is two-fold. For metrics that
capture efforts to improve appropriate access to antimicrobial medicines,
102 low- and middle-income countries are in scope. For other measurement
areas, the scope is global.
MEASUREMENT AREAS
- * Research & Development: Captures companies' R&D activities targeting
bacterial and fungal infections caused by priority pathogens, identified by
WHO and the CDC as posing the greatest public health threat. It maps and
rewards R&D efforts in this domain and evaluates whether companies have
plans to ensure the accessibility and stewardship of new products.
- * Responsible Manufacturing: Compares companies’ strategies for limiting
the impact of antibiotic manufacturing on resistance. Assesses how
companies take antibiotic discharge into account in their environmental
risk-management strategies and how they ensure high-quality antibiotic
production.
- * Appropriate Access & Stewardship: Assesses companies' access strategies
for both on- and off-patent medicines and vaccines in low- and
middle-income countries, alongside their global stewardship strategies.
In addition to these main areas outlined above, the Benchmark also includes
a breakdown of companies' antibiotic and antifungal pipelines and
portfolios which reveals which companies are developing new treatments for
the most threatening bacteria and fungi, and individual Report Cards that
provide a detailed overview of how each company in scope is addressing AMR.
KEY FINDINGS
- *The clinical pipeline of antibiotics for priority infections remains
small, but companies have plans for access and stewardship in place for
more of them than in 2018. Eight out of 32 key candidate antibiotics (25%)
have such plans, up from 2 out of 28 (7%) in 2018. However, such advance
planning is so far benefitting only a few diseases.
- *Companies are missing opportunities to make antibiotics available, by
not seeking to register new antibiotics in countries where the need is
greatest and by not widely supplying to lower-income countries older
antibiotics that are still clinically useful.
- *There is progress in responsible promotion practices that address the
overselling of antibiotics. By decoupling bonuses from sales volumes, or
not using any sales staff at all, companies mitigate against overselling
antibiotics and driving resistance. Ten companies now take such steps. That
compares with five companies taking such action in 2018.
- *More companies are supporting or running AMR surveillance programmes
that track the rise and spread of resistance, and most publish the results.
Pfizer has become the first company to share the raw data, publishing it on
an open-access AMR online register.
Further comments or questions on the Benchmark can be directed to Fatema
Rafiqi, Research Programme Manager at
<frafiqi@accesstomedicinefoundation.org>
Best wishes,
Dulce
WHO WE ARE
The Antimicrobial Resistance Benchmark is an initiative of the Access to
Medicine Foundation. It is funded by UK AID and the Dutch Ministry of
Health, Welfare and Sports. The Access to Medicine Foundation is a
non-profit organisation. It aims to advance access to medicine in low- and
middle-income countries by stimulating and guiding the pharmaceutical
industry to play a greater role in improving access to medicine and
vaccines. For ten years, the Foundation has been building consensus on the
role for the pharmaceutical industry in improving access to medicine and
vaccines. It published its first benchmark of industry activity in this
area in 2008, in the first Access to Medicine Index. In 2017, it published
the first Access to Vaccines Index and, in 2018, the first Antimicrobial
Resistance Benchmark.
Dulce Calçada, MSc.
Researcher
Access to Medicine Foundation
Naritaweg 227
Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Dulce Calcada <dcalcada@accesstomedicinefoundation.org>