A $1 billion fund backed by over 20 drugmakers made its first set of investments on April 4 in two biotechnology startups, nearly two years after it was launched to help struggling antibiotic makers tackle the threat of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

To alleviate the problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, or superbugs, several biotechnology companies are developing different strategies to target and kill these microorganisms.

World Health Organization

None of the 43 antibiotics in development as well as recently approved medicines are enough to combat the increasing emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance, the World Health Organization cautioned on April 15.

A majority of Covid-19 patients that were admitted to U.S. hospitals during the first few months of the pandemic were prescribed antibiotics even before a bacterial infection had been confirmed, a study showed on March 10.

The new anti-tuberculosis drug combination of bedaquiline, pretomanid and linezolid cures 90 percent of people with deadly drug-resistant TB if given for six months, researchers report in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Leading scientists, public policy experts and biotech industry leaders joined forces to launch “Working to Fight AMR,” a coalition working to raise public awareness of the growing threat posed by antimicrobial resistance.

The pharmaceutical industry should match its words with action on researching new antibiotics to address the threat posed by drug-resistant superbugs, a former UK government adviser said.

Merck is globally committed to an antimicrobial stewardship encompassing surveillance, R&D, and health policy.