Report: JPIAMR Workshop on Environmental Dimensions of AMR

The workshop, initiated by JPIAMR and the Swedish Research Council, was led by Professor Joakim Larsson at the University of Gothenburg. Over 20 scientists with core expertise on the Environmental Dimensions of Antibiotic Resistance, met in Gothenburg, Sweden, to discuss the steps needed to create a JPIAMR roadmap for research on AMR within the environment. The steps discussed may contribute to the initiated update of the Environment section of the JPIAMR Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) and a potential upcoming research calls with a focus on the environmental dimensions of AMR.

There is an article about the workshop here, we have also included interviews with a few participants.

For the full report please use link, below.

Download here: JPIAMR workshop on Environmental dimensions of AMR Gothenburg Sweden 2017

Pre-announcement of 6th Call – New Targets, Compounds and Tools

We are pleased to pre-announce the 6th Joint Call for transnational research projects “New Targets, Compounds and Tools”. To date fifteen countries are participating with a total budget of approximately 13 million Euros. The launch of the 6th Call will be in January, 2018.

This year the WHO published the Global priority pathogen list of antibiotic-resistant bacteria to guide research, discovery, and development of new antibiotics (PPL). The 6th joint call for proposals addresses this list, with the aim to discover new targets, compounds, or new tools with the potential to help controlling infections by drug-resistant bacteria identified by the WHO as priority pathogens (including multi- and extensively drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis). Projects considered for funding will involve fundamental and/or translational One Health research, with the exception of clinical trials.

Participating countries and eligibility

Consortia of eligible scientists from Belgium (FWO), Czech Republic, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Spain (MINECO/ ISCIII), Sweden and Switzerland may apply for funding in this call.* Consortia must include a minimum of three eligible partners from at least three different countries participating in the call, and a maximum of 6 project partners (or 7 if a partner from Czech Republic, Latvia or Poland is included).

* List is provisional – additional countries may join. Final eligibility conditions will be published when call opens.

Read more about the 6th Call on the page about the call.

Download: PRESS RELEASE JPIAMR 6th Joint Call

Contacts

For inquiries about the pre-announcement of the 6th Joint Call, please contact:

Martine Batoux, ANR.

E-mail: Martine.BATOUX@agencerecherche.fr

www.agence-nationale-recherche.fr

For general media inquiries, please contact:

Anders Bjers, Communications Officer JPIAMR.

Telephone: +46 8 546 44 068

E-mail: anders.bjers@vr.se 

Press release: The fifth JPIAMR Joint Call Results

We are pleased to announce the results of the JPIAMR 2017 call for transnational research projects “Comparison of prevention, control and intervention strategies for AMR infections through multidisciplinary studies, including One Health approaches”. Within this funding opportunity over EUR 11.5 million have been awarded to 10 projects. Consortia include 47 funded research groups from 11 countries (Canada, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Sweden and Switzerland), and an additional 6 international partners (Czech Republic, Israel, Romania and the USA).

Projects funded in this call have covered topics including One Health interventions for infection control in humans and livestock, transmission to the food chain, and antimicrobial stewardship.

The call was launched in January 2017 by 16 research funding organisations from 15 countries, and attracted 51 consortia applying for nearly EUR 57 million in total, resulting in a success rate of 19.6%.

The final funding decision will depend on national regulations and inspection of the formal proposals by the national funding organisations. Each national funding agency will take a formal decision on the projects to be supported.

Please, download files to view each project awarded with funding.

Download: Results of 5th Call – Table Funded Projects FINAL

Download: Project Summaries for 5th JPIAMR Call

Download:PRESS RELEASE JPIAMR 5th Joint Call FINAL

Contacts

For inquiries regarding the 5th Joint Call, please contact:

Malwina Gębalska

JPIAMR 2017 Call Secretariat

National Science Centre

malwina.gebalska@ncn.gov.pl

Telephone: +48 519 404 997

Jerzy Frączek

JPIAMR 2017 Call Secretariat

National Science Centre

jerzy.fraczek@ncn.gov.pl

Telephone: +48 12 341 9165

For general media inquiries, please contact:

Anders Bjers, Communications Officer JPIAMR.

Telephone: +46 8 546 44 068

E-mail: anders.bjers@vr.se

Network Call Pre-announcement – AMR Surveillance Network

JPIAMR Working Groups are motivated groups of leading experts funded in order to enhance resource alignment and pushing forward the new ideas of value to the wider research community. Working groups are coordinated by scientists from participating countries but open to international experts.

Preliminary scope of the call: Improvement, integration, standardisation and impact of surveillance. Methods, integration and impact.

Participating countries, to date: Argentina, France ,Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Norway, Sweden, The Netherlands, UK. 

Budget: Approx. 50 000 €/network, up to a year.

Publication of call in 2018

Sign up for JPIAMR Newsletter to receive information about the Call.

AMR in focus at G 7 Health Ministers meeting in Milan

On November 5 and 6, the G7 Ministerial Meeting on Health took place in Milan, Italy. On the agenda for the second day was antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The discussions focused on crucial topics of global health. The aim of the meeting was among else to coordinate global and concrete actions. In that context, participating Health Ministers expressed that they welcome the establishment of the Global AMR R&D Hub and call to ensure it becomes an effective platform to align and increase global investment in much needed R&D based on WHO recommendations, e.g. the Priority Pathogen List (PPL).  They expressed support for the collaboration of the Global AMR R&D Hub with existing international networks and initiatives like the Interagency Coordination Group on AMR, the Global Antibiotic Research & Development Partnership (GARDP), CARB-X and the Joint Programming Initiative on AMR (JPIAMR). G7 Health Ministers expressed support for the development of evidence-based strategies, tools and interventions to fight AMR, and sustain research related to the Strategic Objectives of the WHO Global Action Plan. As well as to promote R&D for new antimicrobials, alternative therapies, vaccines and rapid-point-of care diagnostics, in particular for WHO-defined priority pathogens and tuberculosis.

JPIAMR welcomes the G7 Health Ministers focus on global coordination, supported R&D areas and the many dimensions of Antibiotic Resistance, the impacts are real now. The actions of JPIAMRs 26 member nations concerted efforts to meet human needs- and scientific results are tangible today. JPIAMR has merged the shared Strategic Research Agenda with a One Health approach. A crucial component and strategy since antimicrobial resistance do not adhere to any boundaries. In 2018 JPIAMR launches it´s 6th call: Innovation against antibiotic resistant bacteria – New targets, compounds and tools. This as a direct response to the WHO Priority Pathogens List (PPL). Coordinating participating nations resources for funding research that targets the 12 groups of bacteria and drug-resistant tuberculosis listed by WHO.

JPIAMR also welcome the initiative of the Global AMR R&D Hub, working side by side to ensure that innovation is in focus and not duplication. Seeing that a diverse range of research and resources can match and harness AMR as the multidimensional global threat it is.

Working together makes the difference we need – to harness AMR in time.

Press release: Statement for the Call to Action on AMR in Berlin, October 12-13 2017

At the Call to Action in Berlin on October 12-13, the JPIAMR will commit to several new initiatives and actions for 2018.

  1. Research is a crucial tool to address AMR, therefore, we commit to launch three joint research calls with a preliminary budget of 15M€. We will focus our efforts on projects to identify new targets addressing the WHO pathogens priority list, Surveillance, and we will build on our recent success and support Research Networks across international borders.
  2. Resistant bacteria do not respect any international borders and as globalisation and AMR increases we firmly believe international research efforts across borders should also. In response to this growing challenge the JPIAMR will launch a ground breaking AMR Virtual Research Institute. A dynamic network of AMR research facilities and groups to provide a global platform for scientific collaboration and build research capacity.
  3. AMR is a complex challenge and as our understanding grows, we need to be adaptive and responsive. As a result, the JPIAMR commit to increasing activities to prioritise research within the Strategic Research Agenda. JPIAMR is also committing to do several mappings of AMR research funding and update the existing data. Together with creating a database of AMR research projects. Also, to map AMR research centres and research infrastructures. We are aiming to have all this information available in a database in 2018/19.

This Call to Action needs to truly embrace the complexity and challenge of AMR. We need to work together on the many dimensions of AMR simultaneously. That is why JPIAMR is one of the key organisations to support and become a member of, in order to harness antimicrobial resistance in time, for mankind”, says Dr. Carlos Segovia, Chairman JPIAMR.

The impact of JPIAMR since its inception is fundamental. I see the Virtual Research Institute as another stellar creation facilitated by JPIAMR and the dynamic research context is unique for the work to harness AMR.”, says Dr. Marc Ouellette, Member of the Board JPIAMR.

The JPIAMR calls on all Nation States to join the organisation. We also ask existing Member States to build on the progress made and continue to invest in high quality research, across international borders with the One Health multidimensional approach. Together – we create progress.

Download: PRESS RELEASE JPIAMR Statement A Call To Action Berlin 13 October 2017.

JPIAMR: Facts and Contacts
Since 2013, the JPIAMR, Joint Project Initiative on AMR, has funded more than 45 research projects and/or networks with more than 300 partners, across multiple countries and disciplines. JPIAMR has coordinated investments of €60m to advance knowledge in areas such as: Discovery of new therapies, transmission dynamics of AMR in humans, animals and the environment, new surveillance methods and interventions to reduce the impact of AMR. JPIAMR is gaining momentum as a global co-ordinating capacity and leading research organisation on AMR.

With four new Member States joining since September 2016 alone, JPIAMR clearly creates substantial values for its members and researchers alike. To date, 26 Nations are full members and the organisation is growing, adding new member continuously to the now global organisation.

For inquiries at the Call to Action in Berlin, October 12-13. Please contact:

Laura Marin, General Manager JPIAMR.

Telephone: +46 8 546 44 119

E-mail: laura.marin@vr.se

For other press inquiries, please contact:

Anders Bjers, Communications Officer JPIAMR.

Telephone: +46 8 546 44 068

E-mail: anders.bjers@vr.se

October 2017: Management Board meeting in Stockholm

We gathered members of JPIAMR for Management Board meeting in Stockholm on October 10-11. Two dynamic days with member nations represented. Sharing AMR insights and updates on the actions of JPIAMR. Coordination, collaboration, calls and developments in focus.

Many items and areas covered, including welcoming new member South Africa who was represented by Dr. Richard Gordon. The mapping project is underway, continued expansion of JPIAMR, updates from EC and the development of JPIAMR Virtual Research Institute.

Thank you all for making it to Stockholm.

Workshop: Environmental Dimensions of AMR

Full focus on the impact of environment on AMR when a global group of scientist collaborated during two intense days. Themes discussed: Evolution, Transmission and Interventions. The purpose of the workshop was to explore and identify critical research needs that relate to the environmental dimensions of AMR, both in the longer term for providing input to an updated JPIAMR Strategic Research Agenda, but also in the shorter term to provide guidance for specific calls. Creating more insights on  what role environment plays for antibiotic resistance. We can not exclude the importance of environmental dimensions from the complex context of AMR.

Please, find an article about the report of the outcomes from the workshop.

The workshop in Gothenburg was hosted together with CARe – Centre for Antibiotic Resistance Research at University of Gothenburg.

We made a few interviews during the workshop, please view the videos below.

We say thank you to all of you who participated!

New WHO Report: Current Clinical Pipeline Insufficient

The WHO review shows that the current clinical pipeline is still insufficient to mitigate the threat of antimicrobial resistance.

JPIAMR contributes to finding solutions to the challenges presented by WHO. JPIAMR is processing current and future calls that funds research on the very challenges highlighted in the report. Among with several ground breaking activities.

WHO points out:

  • More investments needed in basic science, drug discovery and clinical development.
  • Most of the agents in the pipeline are modifications of existing antibiotic classes. They are only short term solutions as they usually cannot overcome multiple existing resistance mechanisms and do not control the growing number of pan-resistant pathogens.
  • More innovative products are required against pathogens with no cross- or co-resistance to existing classes.
  • Although oral formulations for community diseases associated with high morbidity are essential globally, few oral antibiotics for infections caused by Gram-negative pathogens are in the pipeline.

As of May 2017, a total of 51 antibiotics (including combinations) and 11 biologicals were in the clinical pipeline with 42 new therapeutic entities (33 antibiotics and nine biologicals) that target priority pathogens, seven products for tuberculosis (TB) and nine for C.difficile infections (seven antibiotics and two biologicals) . The qualitative analysis shows a lack of potential treatment options for priority resistant bacteria, especially for multidrug- and extensively drug-resistant Gram-negative pathogens.

The full report is now available,  please click here to view it.