Infectious Diseases

MSD’s Commitment to Combating Antimicrobial Resistance: A Call for Global Action

Alarming levels of drug-resistant infections have been reported in humans and animals in countries of all income brackets.

16 November 2023

AMR is a problem for all of us and it will take all of us working together to address it. In the spirit of this year’s WAAW theme, “Preventing Antimicrobial Resistance Together,” MSD reiterates the commitment to addressing AMR globally via a “One Health” approach, but also calls on the need for collective action from industry, governments, multilateral organizations, and civil society to work together to fully address the rising threat of AMR.

World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW) provides an important opportunity to raise public awareness that AMR represents one of the greatest threats the world faces

AMR is sometimes called the “silent tsunami”, as it has not yet received the attention it deserves but continues to inexorably rise.

The facts:

In 2019, almost 5 million deaths were associated with AMR, more than all other causes of death other than heart disease and stroke.
Alarming levels of drug-resistant infections have been reported in humans and animals in countries of all income brackets.
AMR poses a formidable challenge to the global economy, with significant risks for sustainable food production and global trade.

Mitigating AMR: Strategies and Imperative Actions

AMR can’t be fully stopped, but there is knowledge on how to slow down AMR and help public health systems get ahead of it. This can be done by implementing evidence-based policies such as antimicrobial stewardship programs, which help ensure antimicrobials are only used when they are truly needed, as well as preventative vaccination that can help limit the need to prescribe antimicrobial medicines.

However, completely overcoming AMR solely through stewardship is not feasible. It is necessary to complement these efforts with a robust and diverse pipeline of new antimicrobials under development to ensure effective treatments against the increasing rates of resistance to existing medicines.

Shortage of New Antimicrobials: Commercial Challenges and Declining Investment

Unfortunately, the general pipeline of new antimicrobials is woefully inadequate to address both current and future AMR threats. Relatively few are in development today due to a confluence of unique challenges that make antibiotics commercially unsustainable. As a result, investment into new antimicrobials has declined significantly, with many companies exiting this space. Those that remain struggle to remain commercially sustainable, and several biotech’s with approved antibiotics meeting unmet AMR needs have filed for bankruptcy.

MSD’s pioneering role and the AMR Action Fund

For over a century, MSD has played a leading role in combating AMR, not only discovering and developing a range of medicines and vaccines that treat and prevent infectious diseases in humans and animals. As one of the last large pharmaceutical companies committed to addressing AMR, MSD sees the urgency to find solutions to the market failures for novel antimicrobial medicines to drive antimicrobial innovation.

Recognizing the need to buy time for governments around the world to advance policy solutions to these market failures, in 2020 MSD joined a group of 20 leading biopharmaceutical companies to launch the $1B AMR Action Fund. This groundbreaking partnership aims to bring two to four new antimicrobials to patients by 2030.

As a lead investor, MSD has committed $100 million over 10 years to help bridge the gap between the antimicrobial pipeline and patients. But the Fund is a temporary and time-limited bridge that will only work if governments make the necessary reforms to create a sustainable market.

MSD is also working with industry partners, governments, health care providers, and others to support AMR surveillance, promote appropriate use, and prevent infections through vaccination through a One Health approach.

MSD maintains one of the world’s largest and longest running AMR surveillance study, the Study for Monitoring Antimicrobial Resistance Trends (SMART). Launched in 2002, SMART enables researchers to monitor the susceptibility of bacteria to antimicrobials and identify trends in the development of resistance.
Dedicated to preserving and improving the health and wellbeing of animals, MSD is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of animal vaccines, producing over 102 billion doses per year to help prevent infections that may require the use of antimicrobials.
Recognizing the critical role for antimicrobial stewardship to slow the development of resistance, MSD has collaborated with over 1,100 hospitals in 28 countries as an antimicrobial stewardship resource and partner to create patient-centric, product-agnostic stewardship programs around the world.

^{CH-NON-02483, 11/2023}

Infectious Diseases

Our commitment to the fight against COVID-19

As a company with a long legacy of research in vaccines and infectious diseases, we’ve been committed to advancing an effective response to COVID-19 since it was first discovered.

11.07.2023

«We’ve been focused on contributing our scientific expertise and experience to help address COVID-19.»

01.

Our oral antiviral COVID-19 medicine

In collaboration with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, we have advanced our research and development efforts for our COVID-19 medicine, making an important contribution to the care of COVID-19 patients.

We are working with health authorities to make our therapeutic option available worldwide.

02.

Access to health care

We have a long track record of making our medicines and vaccines accessible and affordable. Our comprehensive supply and access strategy has enabled timely and broad access to our COVID-19 medicine for patients around the world, including in low- and middle-income countries.

We have also provided UNICEF with up to 3 million treatment units for low- and middle-income countries.

Through our licensing agreements with generics manufacturers and the Medicines Patent Pool, more than 5 million courses of generic therapy have been delivered to 22 low- and middle-income countries through December 2022.

03.

Our commitment as an employer

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve prioritized the health, safety and well-being of our employees and their families and supported our health care providers and our communities, including through volunteer work and donation efforts.

We continue to research

We are proud to turn breakthrough science into medicines and vaccines that save and improve lives around the world. We focus on finding new solutions for today and the future.

^{CH-NON-01216, 06/2023}

Infectious Diseases

Addressing antibiotic resistance is more critical than ever. Here’s why.

Since their development, antibiotics have transformed health care and saved countless lives globally. But rising levels of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) make current antibiotics less effective.

18.05.2023

Doctor talking to patient lying in a hospital bed

There’s no single or simple solution to the complex problem of AMR, but we’re committed to investing our expertise and resources alongside our partners to get much-needed antibiotics to those who need them most. Lives are at risk, and the time to act is now.

True to our company’s longstanding tradition of preventing and treating infectious diseases, we’re proud to commit to invest $100 million over 10 years in the new AMR Action Fund. Through this groundbreaking partnership of leading pharmaceutical companies, philanthropies, development banks and multilateral organizations, we aim to bridge the gap between the innovative early antibiotic pipeline and patients. New antibiotics are urgently needed. With this new fund for antibiotic research and development, our collective aim is to bring two to four new antibiotics to patients and physicians by the end of the decade.

Here are five key reasons to build on these collaborative efforts to address AMR:

01.

New antibiotics are urgently needed; however, there are relatively few in development.

AMR is a naturally occurring phenomenon through which bacteria build up defenses against antibiotics. The nature of resistance means that there is a continual need to develop new antibiotics so we can stay a step ahead of resistant pathogens.

MSD has remained committed to antibiotic R&D for over 80 years and brought forward new treatments each decade. However, major scientific, regulatory and economic challenges discourage innovation in antibiotics, resulting in a significant decline in the number of companies conducting antibiotic and antifungal R&D over the last two decades. Recognizing there is unlikely to be a one-size-fits-all solution to the problem, MSD and others have suggested a series of policy reforms across several regions of the world. However, time is running out. We need collaboration from policymakers across the globe to help antibiotic innovation flourish for decades to come.

02.

Once new antibiotics are approved, they need to be used appropriately.

While developing new antimicrobials is important, slowing resistance to current medicines is equally crucial. Appropriate antibiotic therapy can play an important role in treating patients with resistant infections and preserving the effectiveness of antibiotics.

We must work together to implement evidence-based policies and programs that support the appropriate prescribing and use of antimicrobials. At MSD, we are making significant investments to support antimicrobial stewardship (AMS), helping hospitals around the world to develop and implement patient-centered AMS programs that are customized at the local level based on factors like epidemiology, clinical setting and resource availability. We also provide significant grant funding to support a wide range of AMS initiatives and collaborations.

Some of our global contributions to AMS:

Supported the development of several AMS Centers of Excellence throughout the world

Helped public health leaders effectively monitor and address emerging AMR infections, promote AMS and customize accepted AMS strategies to meet local needs

Contributed toward meaningful standardized patient safety outcome measures for US hospital AMS programs

Funded a round of Discovery Awards (small seed grants to help diagnostic innovators get their ideas off the ground and improve their chances of winning the UK-based Longitude Prize)

03.

We must track resistance trends and use the data to inform on prescribing.

To ensure that antibiotics are being prescribed appropriately, clinical treatment guidelines must remain up-to-date and based on resistance trends. Surveillance studies can assist in identifying these trends in pathogen incidence and AMR, and can also identify emergent resistant strains.

At MSD, we work with public health bodies, health care professionals and diagnostics companies to inform appropriate antibiotic use by sharing surveillance data. One of the largest AMR surveillance programs, our Study for Monitoring Antimicrobial Resistance Trends (SMART) program has collected approximately 500,000 bacterial isolates from 217 sites in 63 countries since 2002. This data can help to curb the development of AMR by informing adequate treatment plans and prescribing guidelines that ensure antibiotics are used appropriately.

04.

We need to think beyond human health.

The challenge of AMR is multifaceted, and we believe a One Health approach to creating policies is critical to attain optimal health for people, animals and our environment.

When it comes to animal health, vaccines should be considered a first line of defense against bacterial and viral diseases. By preventing diseases, vaccines can help minimize the need for antibiotics. MSD Animal Health is one of the largest manufacturers of animal health vaccines, supplying over 100B doses each year. We are also engaged in collaborative efforts to ensure new and existing antibiotics are effective now and in the future for all species.

Protecting the environment through responsible manufacturing is another key component of the One Health approach. To combat rising levels of antibiotics in the environment, we have committed over $100 million to ensure factory discharges do not present a risk to human health or the environment. We also worked with our partners in the AMR Industry Alliance to inform science‐based manufacturing targets to help ensure robust scrutiny of industry manufacturing supply chains.

05.

The time to act against AMR is now.

We have received ample warning signs of the dangers of AMR. With collaboration across the scientific community and policymakers, it is preventable.

We all have a role to play as we look ahead to prepare for the next health crisis. We know that without action, AMR will have significant global consequences. We must act now to put measures in place to ensure we have the antibiotics we need for our generation and those to come.

^{CH-NON-01235, 05/2023}

Infectious Diseases

Our commitment to HIV treatments and prevention through the years

We continue to work at the forefront of the fight against HIV.

11.04.2023

HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) continues to be a major public health threat. The virus can lead to AIDS.

Since 1985, our company has been engaged in research and development (R&D) efforts in the prevention and treatment of HIV. Over the years, our scientists have made significant discoveries that changed the way HIV is treated.

Here are some historical moments highlighting this effort:

In 1982, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention first used the term “AIDS,” or acquired immune deficiency syndrome, to describe the clinical syndrome caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Julie Gerberding, chief patient officer, recalls: “I started my training at the University of California at San Francisco at the very beginning of the AIDS epidemic and took care of the earliest patients there who, in retrospect, we recognize had AIDS. It was a truly frightening disease. There were so many unknowns, including how it was transmitted.”
In the mid-1980s, MSD launched its HIV research program in response to what it perceived as a potential epidemic. Our scientists were among the first to discover and develop medicines for the treatment of HIV.
We were the first to publish the crystal structure of HIV protease, which is an enzyme which is essential for virus infectivity.
In 1992, MSD joined other pharmaceutical companies to create the Inter-Company Collaboration for AIDS Drug Development to research HIV treatments. By 1993, we were undertaking the biggest research program in our history, deploying more scientists to investigate AIDS than any other disease and testing tens of thousands of compounds.
The HIV/AIDS community continued to speak out for action. In 1995, Linda Distlerath, former executive director, Public Policy and MSD Research Laboratories Public Affairs, spent time reading letters sent from thousands of AIDS patients and activists urging MSD to produce a treatment for the disease quickly.
After years of study and development, MSD developed one of the first protease inhibitors. In 1995, prior to FDA approval, in conjunction with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, patients and HIV advocacy groups, MSD offered a program that made its new HIV treatment available at no cost to selective patients before it was commercially available.
In 1996, the HIV treatment received FDA approval in a record-setting 42 days. It was an important early achievement in making HIV a survivable infection.
In 2012, The NAMES Project Foundation – with support from MSD – launched Call My Name national tour to bring attention to the distressing trajectory of the HIV epidemic in the Black communities in the U.S. The tour included creating new panels for the AIDS memorial quilt and educational workshops in 10 high-prevalence cities.
Daria Hazuda, VP, infectious disease discovery and chief scientific officer, MSD Exploratory Science Center has led the team working to identify new ways to attack and treat HIV.
In 2021, we entered into an agreement with Gilead to work together in the global HIV community in the fight against HIV.

^{CH-NON-01219, 05/2023}

MSD’s Commitment to Combating Antimicrobial Resistance: A Call for Global Action

World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW) provides an important opportunity to raise public awareness that AMR represents one of the greatest threats the world faces

Mitigating AMR: Strategies and Imperative Actions

Shortage of New Antimicrobials: Commercial Challenges and Declining Investment

MSD’s pioneering role and the AMR Action Fund

Our commitment to the fight against COVID-19

Our oral antiviral COVID-19 medicine

Access to health care

Our commitment as an employer

We continue to research

Addressing antibiotic resistance is more critical than ever. Here’s why.

Here are five key reasons to build on these collaborative efforts to address AMR:

New antibiotics are urgently needed; however, there are relatively few in development.

Once new antibiotics are approved, they need to be used appropriately.

Some of our global contributions to AMS:

We must track resistance trends and use the data to inform on prescribing.

We need to think beyond human health.

The time to act against AMR is now.

Our commitment to HIV treatments and prevention through the years

Related links