The Australian Antimicrobial Resistance Network (AAMRNet) is Australia’s leading multi-stakeholder expert group committed to combating the urgent global threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

AAMRNet is a public-private partnership, established and operated by MTPConnect, Australia’s independent, not-for-profit life-sciences innovation accelerator, delivering on a key recommendation of the first in a series of reports Fighting Superbugs: A Report on the Inaugural Meeting of Australia’s Antimicrobial Resistance Stakeholders.

AAMRNet leverages MTPConnect’s networks, resources and its reputation as an independent and trusted voice for the sector, and brings together experts from industry, research, clinicians, patients and government to identify and tackle the challenges of AMR. Through its partnerships and engagement with key national and international stakeholders, AAMRNet is established as the key organisational contact point for access to Australian AMR expertise.

As the only body in Australia able to provide whole-of-sector representation, AAMRNet is uniquely placed to promote Australia’s role in the fight against AMR.

The Urgent Threat of AMR

AMR occurs when microbes such as bacteria and fungi become resistant to the drugs which once killed them – evolving into untreatable ‘superbugs’.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared it one of the top ten global public health threats facing humanity and has cautioned that it is possible that a “post-antibiotic era” may be coming, where minor infections – currently easily treated with common antibiotics – may become deadly.

Often described as a ‘silent pandemic’, AMR is already a leading cause of death worldwide. It was directly responsible for more deaths than malaria and HIV globally in 2019, when, in Australia, it was linked to over 5,000 deaths.

The Review on Antimicrobial Resistance estimates that around 10 million lives per year will be lost globally, and a cumulative US$100 trillion of economic output will be put at risk if no action is taken by 2050. The estimated annual impact of AMR on the Australian economy by 2050 will be between $142 – $283 billion.

AMR is also a serious threat to heath equity, as it disproportionately affects our most vulnerable. The burden of AMR being higher in aged care, women, children, indigenous and remote populations, and people with chronic underlying disease such as diabetes.

Climate change and global conflict are exacerbating the threat. Warmer temperatures and more frequent severe weather events, as well as populations displaced by climate change and global conflicts that are causing health system failure all promote the spread of drug-resistant infections.

Antimicrobials underpin all of modern medicine. AMR threatens our future capacity to perform medical procedures where antibiotics are the main line of defence, such as organ transplantation, cancer chemotherapy, diabetes management and major surgery. 

Access to New Antimicrobials in Australia

Microbes are constantly evolving, meaning a robust pipeline of new antimicrobials in development is central to combating AMR. Yet, despite the urgent need, the WHO has deemed that pipeline is insufficient to tackle the rise and spread of AMR. 

A key reason for this is a market failure that makes it not financially viable to invest in the development and commercialisation of new antibiotics. This has caused most venture capital companies and large pharmaceutical companies to exit the area. Small companies that have succeeded in bringing a new antibiotic to market face significant losses and ultimately, bankruptcy. 

This is driven by a policy framework that does not recognise the true value of antibiotics. Currently, reimbursement is linked to sales volumes, but to protect their effectiveness, novel antibiotics are used sparingly, and only when all other treatments have failed or are inappropriate. When they are used, it is usually only for short periods, which limits sales further. They are also generally undervalued by reimbursement systems relative to the benefits they bring to society, resulting in a commercial return not sufficient to meet the costs of research and development, nor the commercialisation and ongoing post-marketing costs. 

Addressing this market failure requires a critical balance of both ‘push’ incentives, that lower the cost of R&D, and ‘pull’ incentives, that provide a predictable return on investment and reward successful development.