Author: Anna Sundin

The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in disruptions to some JPIAMR projects and networks. Requests for extentions should be made to the respective national funding organisation.

JPIAMR recognises that the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in disruptions to some JPIAMR projects and networks. Impacted researchers engaged in JPIAMR transnational consortia should submit requests for extensions of the projects or networks to their respective national funding organisation.

JPIAMR is committed to support the researchers and work to get through this challenging situation together.

While scientists are working to understand and control the Covid-19 pandemic, it is also crucial to prepare for the effect of the current, and future, viral pandemics on secondary bacterial infections and the resulting impact on antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

The Covid-19 pandemic reinforces the importance of preventative measures such as vaccination and antimicrobial treatments in maintaining human health. Similarly, controlling infectious agents is necessary to sustain the global economy and societal functionality. Bacterial co-infections are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality during viral infections and are already being reported as having a significant impact in the context of Covid-19.

The Covid-19 pandemic highlights the need to understand the complex connections between bacterial and viral infections. It is important to consider that patients in countries that have used high levels of antibiotics may also now face further complications during co-infection by antibiotic resistant bacteria. In the current situation appropriate and systematic testing of Covid-19 patients presenting with a bacterial co-infection should be conducted in order to choose the correct antibiotic to increase the survival of patients and limit the spread of AMR. The use of rapid diagnostics promoting the use of effective narrow-spectrum antibiotics should be used where possible.

AMR will likely increase through the heavy use of antibiotics in Covid-19 patient treatment. New and improved functional therapeutics, including antibiotics and antibiotic combinations, alternative treatments to antibiotic use, and the predictive prevention of bacterial respiratory infections using vaccines should be investigated in the context of Covid-19. International guidelines on the use of the correct antibiotics, or combination of antibiotics, in the correct situation, should also be made available.

In addition to the direct impact on AMR as a result of increased antibiotic use, the transmission of AMR beyond the medical system should be considered and assessed.  One simple example is release of increased levels of antimicrobials in waste water from hospital systems that will affect levels of antimicrobials in the environment, which will impact the level of resistance in both animals (both wildlife and feed animals) and in farming and natural systems.

The Covid-19 pandemic has had an immense impact on public understanding of infection prevention and control. Throughout the world people are practicing improved hand-washing techniques and social distancing, and other intervention measures to prevent infection. Improved interventions in the healthcare systems have been implemented worldwide. The implications of these interventions will likely impact the levels of other infectious agents and AMR and should have positive impacts on global health. Momentum on the improved public knowledge regarding infection prevention and control should be maintained through education and advertising. The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of vaccination, the need for functional antimicrobials, as well as the necessity for supporting research into the understanding and control of infectious agents.

In order to be better prepared for emerging public health challenges, it is imperative that we remember the fundamental importance of antibiotics for modern medicine including protecting patients during a pandemic. The members of JPIAMR are fully committed to continue the support excellent research and the development of innovative diagnostics and effective treatments of infectious diseases to counter future outbreaks and the growing threat posed by antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Considerations by JPIAMR

JPIAMR is pleased to welcome the new Steering Committee and new Chair Jan-Ingvar Jönsson elected at the JPIAMR Management Board meeting held online on the 17th of March.

JPIAMR is pleased to welcome the new Steering Committee, new Vice Chair Marie-Paule Kieny  and new Chair Jan-Ingvar Jönsson (picture) elected at the JPIAMR Management Board meeting held online on the 17th of March.

Jan-Ingvar Jönsson, Chair, Sweden
Jan-Ingvar Jönsson is Professor at Linköping University, Sweden, and since 2016 also Secretary General for Medicine and Health at the Swedish Research Council where he holds several commissions. In 2017 he was appointed to lead the newly established National research programme in antibiotic resistance in Sweden. He has been Vice Chair of JPIAMR since 2016 and Acting Chair since 2018.

–  I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the members of JPIAMR to the trust to serve as chair for the coming two years. We are entering an exciting time with the development of the AMR One Health Partnership which needs lots of attention from the member states, but there are also other challenges such as what activities and operations we can manage during the transition phase into the partnership. I feel confident that we will succeed and that JPIAMR continues to be an important player in the field of AMR research, says Jan-Ingvar Jönsson.

Marie-Paule Kieny, Vice Chair, France
Marie-Paule Kieny is Director of Research at Inserm in Paris, in charge of the Priority Research Program on Antibiotic Resistance initiated by France in 2019 as part of the Investment Program for the Future (Programme d’Investissements d’Avenir).

–It is an honour to have been elected as vice-chair of JPIAMR. Our partnership has grown as a major player for research on AMR in Europe and the world.  I commit to assist our Chair, Dr Jan-Ingvar Jönson, in steering the Management Board through a future transition of JPIAMR to an AMR-One Health Partnership under Horizon Europe, says Marie-Paule Kieny.

JPIAMR Steering Committee 2020-2022

Richard Gordon, South Africa
Richard Gordon is the Executive Director of the Grants, Innovation and Product Development groups at the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC).

Charu Kaushic, Canada
Charu Kaushic is the Scientific Director of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)-Institute of Infection and Immunity, serving in this role since July 1, 2018. Dr. Kaushic is also a tenured Full Professor in the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine in McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.

Joachim Klein, Germany
Joachim Klein has worked for the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) since 2008 and currently serves as Deputy Head of Division “Global Health Research” where he is responsible for several BMBF funding programs.

Jonathan Pearce, UK
Jonathan Pearce joined the Medical Research Council in 2008 and is now Associate Director for Biological Medicine, and in his time at MRC has had responsibility for Infections and Immunity.

For full bios please see the JPIAMR Steering Committee webpage.

Due to the current COVID-19 situation the deadlines for the call Network Plus 2020 and the two calls within AquaticPollutants will be postponed.

Due to the current COVID-19 situation the deadlines for the open JPIAMR calls will be postponed:

Network Plus 2020: Call closes May 28th, 17.00 CET
Read more: utveckling.jpiamr.eu/10th-call/

AquaticPollutants: Call closes May 18th, 17.00 CET
Read more: utveckling.jpiamr.eu/11th-call/

Call on knowledge transfer of research on Aquatic Pollutants: Call closes May 18th, 17.00 CET
Read more: utveckling.jpiamr.eu/12th-call/ 

This call will support the AquaticPollutants cofunded call projects. Proposals should be built by a consortia of German and Swedish institutions.

The Call on knowledge transfer of research on Aquatic Pollutants is part of the AquaticPollutants ERA-Net Cofund action and will support the AquaticPollutants cofunded call projects. The objective is to realize a better and wider dissemination, develop new innovative methods to support the transfer of research and the uptake of results into the public and administrative sector, policy, industry or economy. This will lead to a greater and focused impact and increase the awareness of projects’ outcomes. Moreover, cross-cutting issues, that address all transnational projects alike, can better be dealt with. The implementation of a knowledge transfer project will in addition lead to a better alignment of the three participating JPIs and improve their collaboration possibilities.

Proposals should be built by a consortia of German and Swedish institutions. The total budget of the call is approximately 850,000 Euro.

Timeline

• February 17th 2020: Call opening
• April 16th 2020: Deadline full proposals
• Summer 2020: Final decision
• October to December 2020: Project start

Read more: utveckling.jpiamr.eu/12th-call/

The JPIs on Water, Oceans and Antimicrobial Resistance are pleased to announce a joint transnational call for research and innovation projects on risks posed to human health and the environment by pollutants and pathogens present in the water resources.

The three Joint Programming Initiatives (JPIs) on Water, Oceans and Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) are pleased to announce a joint transnational call for research and innovation projects on risks posed to human health and the environment by pollutants and pathogens present in the water resources.The call AquaticPollutants will support research and innovation projects that establish integrated and cross-sectoral approaches for risk-management combining the research areas of contaminants of emerging concerns (CECs), pathogens and antimicrobial resistance. The whole water cycle, from the source through the river basins and eventually to the estuaries and oceans, has to be considered. The projected call budget is approximately 25 million Euro (co-funded by European Commission). There are still major risks associated with the occurrence of emerging contaminants, pathogens and antimicrobial resistant bacteria in our water bodies and oceans. To face these challenges in a comprehensive way and to develop multidisciplinary and practical solutions for the provision of safe drinking water and healthy aquatic environments, this Joint Transnational Call (JTC) aims to make the research communities in the freshwater, marine and the health sectors work together and create synergies for joint approaches. 

Provisional timeline:

• February 17th 2020: Call opening
• April 16th 2020: Deadline pre-proposals
• June 2020: Invitation to submit full proposals
• August 2020: Deadline full proposals
• October 2020: Funding decision announced
• End 2020 – Beginning 2021: Project start

Read more: utveckling.jpiamr.eu/11th-call/

JPIAMR is pleased to welcome the Republic of Moldova as a full member. JPIAMR now engages 28 nations to curb antibiotic resistance (AMR) with a One Health approach.

Moldova is represented in JPIAMR by the National Agency for Research and Development (NARD). NARD is the central public authority, responsible for the implementation of R&I policy according to National Program. The Agency offers investment in research, including within the domains of health and wellbeing. Nine public specialised research organisations have been established under the Ministry of Health Labour and Social Protection of Moldova. The State’s Program in the frame of the Strategic Priority “Health” has launched two projects in AMR for the period 2020-2023. The goals are to study the mechanisms of AMR resistance in gram-negative bacilli and to explore of nosocomial infections in intensive care units, as well as the development of new antibacterial preparations. Moldova has a draft of the National Program for Surveillance and Control of AMR (2019-2028) based on strategic objectives of the Global AMR Action Plan, with the support of WHO.

– We are very pleased to welcome Moldova as a member of JPIAMR, strengthening this unique platform for research collaboration across borders. Now Moldova will now take part of JPIAMRs One Health approach and in funding research to meet the global challenge of AMR. says Jan-Ingvar Jönsson, Acting Chair of JPIAMR

Two new reports from WHO reveal a weak pipeline for antibiotic agents. The 60 products in development bring little benefit over existing treatments and very few target the most critical resistant bacteria.

WHO recently released the analyses of the preclinical and clinical antibacterial pipeline in two reports: Antibacterial agents in clinical development – an analysis of the antibacterial clinical development pipeline and its companion publication, Antibacterial agents in preclinical development
The JPIAMR Scientific advisory board has provided input to the development of the preclinical pipeline.

Declining private investment and lack of innovation in the development of new antibiotics are undermining efforts to combat drug-resistant infections. These two new reports reveal a weak pipeline for antibiotic agents. The 60 products in development (50 antibiotics and 10 biologics) bring little benefit over existing treatments and very few target the most critical resistant bacteria (Gram-negative bacteria). Of the 50 antibiotics in the pipeline, 32 target WHO priority pathogens but the majority have only limited benefits when compared to existing antibiotics. Two of these are active against the multi-drug resistant Gram-negative bacteria, which are spreading rapidly and require urgent solutions. The reports highlights a worrying gap in activity against the highly resistant NDM-1 (New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase 1), with only three antibiotics in the pipeline.

The pre-clinical pipeline shows more innovation and diversity, with 252 agents being developed in 145 institutions with wide geographical distribution, 66 (45.5%) institutions in the European Region, 51 (35.2%) in the Region of the Americas, 22 (15.2%) in the Western Pacific Region, 5 (3.4%) in the South-East Asia Region and 1 (0.7%) in the African Region to treat WHO priority pathogens, M. tuberculosis and C. difficile. However, these products are in the very early stages of development and still need to be proven effective and safe which means that it will take years before they reach patients. Really compelling novel antibacterial are very rare. Improved versions of existing-class compounds should be more explored. The optimistic scenario, the report indicates, is for the first two to five products to become available in about 10 years. The reports also found that research and development for antibiotics is primarily driven by small- or medium-sized enterprises (71%) with large pharmaceutical companies continuing to exit the field.

The JPIAMR Activity Report that was published today summarises the JPIAMR achievements and major events for the year 2019.

The JPIAMR Activity Report that was published today summarises the JPIAMR achievements and major events for the year 2019, including:

• Global consolidation of JPIAMR with the establishment of global regional workshops in Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe, as well as the geographical expansion of its membership.
• JPIAMR has been highlighted as a key transnational initiative to address AMR by the highest international bodies, for example, in the IACG UN recommendations on a global AMR governance, the G20 Health Ministers conclusions and the EU Council Conclusion on AMR.
• Launch of the updated Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA), as well as the Roadmap of Actions 2019-2024.
• Publication of the mapping of AMR Research Funding national distribution and launch of the AMR Research Funding Dashboard.
• Progress in the development of the JPIAMR-Virtual Research Institute. The JPIAMR-VRI builds on the outcomes of the funded research networks.
• Launch of a first Hackathon on AMR which was a major success, awarding teams with new innovative digital solutions to address AMR.
• Launch of a joint research call in the area of “Diagnostics and Surveillance” together with Development Agencies which has enabled the engagement with the scientific community of LMICs.

Download the full report: JPIAMR Activity Report 2019 (pdf 2 MB, opens in a new window)