Shionogi, Active Citizenship Network and MEPS Advocate for Urgent Policy

FOR MEDICAL, HEALTHCARE TRADE AND POLICY MEDIA ONLY

• Last week, Shionogi partnered with the Active Citizenship Network and members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to host an EU Parliament event calling for collaboration to drive policy change and implementation in the fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR) within the EU and member states.

• Urgent action is needed to encourage and support the discovery and development of novel antibiotics as well as access models that reward innovation and appropriate use to address the growing threat of AMR

• Although AMR is a slower moving threat, it is no less dangerous than COVID-19: in 2019, there were an estimated 1.27 million deaths attributable to bacterial AMR¹ and future projections for the impact of unresolved AMR are as high as 10 million deaths per year by 2050²

OSAKA, Japan & AMSTERDAM, November 21, 2022–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Shionogi & Co., Ltd. and its European subsidiary, Shionogi B.V. (hereafter “Shionogi”), held an event at the EU Parliament last week in the run-up to World Antimicrobial Awareness Week, joining forces with MEPs, Active Citizenship Network and MEPs Interest Group on “European Patients’ Rights & Cross-Border Healthcare” to discuss initiatives to tackle AMR. The event reinforced the need for urgent attention and collaboration from pharmaceutical companies, policy stakeholders and governments to bring about policy change and innovation to address this growing issue.

The European Health Union has declared AMR one of its top three priority health threats in the EU requiring urgent attention and action. Within the context of the revision of the Pharmaceutical Legislation and the planned European Council Recommendations on AMR taking place in Q4 2022, the event brought together high-level European policymakers to discuss the innovation framework for the development of new antibiotics based on concrete examples of initiatives conducted by national health authorities to fight AMR. The event also explored collaborative and governance models to achieve better implementation of actions and best practices for a holistic AMR approach.

“The meeting was crucial to increase awareness of Antimicrobial Resistance and the need for new innovations to address unmet needs. I’m calling on patient organisations, industry, the European Commission, academia, and healthcare professionals to work together to drive policy change and put in place a common response to this increasing societal challenge,” said MEP Aldo Patriciello.

“The inclusion of the AMR within the work programme of the incoming Sweden Presidency of the Council of the EU and the prioritisation of the topic by the European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) give the opportunity to advance policy action to improve stewardship, surveillance of resistance patterns across Europe and incentivise innovation. These actions should be fully integrated into One Health Strategies providing solutions for human, animal and environmental health. The involvement of civic society and patient advocacy groups is also crucial in the development and implementation of AMR National Plans” commented Mariano Votta, Director of Active…