Glasgow professor warns of resistance threat
Published: 17 July 2014
Professor Mike Barrett, Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation, has chaired a high level discussion on the urgent need for new drugs and approaches to tackle the rise of antimicrobial resistance.
The urgent need for new drugs and approaches to tackle the rise of antimicrobial resistance was the subject of discussion at a round table event featuring some of the UK’s biggest names in health policy and research.
The round table discussion was organised by the New Statesman magazine and chaired by Professor Mike Barrett from the Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation and centred on the role of politicians, scientists, business and the public in addressing the crisis facing the world before it is too late.
The rise of antimicrobial resistance poses a huge threat to society making infections and diseases we once thought beaten deadly again, and routine operations life-threatening.
Among those discussing the challenge were Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer for England and Wales, Jeremy Farrar, Director of the Wellcome Trust; Sir John Savill, Chief Executive of the Medical Research Council; Zac Goldsmith, Conservative MP for Richmond Park; Manos Perros, Global Head of Infection and Site Head at Boston Research and Development for Astra Zeneca; and Patrick Vallance, President of Pharmaceuticals at GlaxoSmithKline.
The University of Glasgow is at the forefront of research into new targets for antimicrobial drugs – which covers not only antibiotics, but anti-parasitics and anti-virals.
Prof Barrett said: “Prior to the second world war deaths from microbial infections were prevalent throughout the world including here in the UK. Tuberculosis, diphtheria, cholera and septicaemia were among the most widely feared killers. The discovery of penicillin by the Ayrshire born doctor, Alexander Fleming, paved the way for a golden era of antibiotics.
“Cheap and easy to produce drugs that killed most bacteria were readily discovered. However, bacteria have evolved resistance to many of these drugs and the soaring costs of drug development have discouraged pharmaceutical companies from investing in the discovery of new antibiotics. We have taken it for granted that we can keep bacterial infections at bay.
“Apart from the risk imposed by becoming infected with resistant bacteria, the loss of antibiotics will undermine many of the great leaps forward in modern medicine. Transplants, hip-replacements and fitting of pace-makers can only be achieved safely if antibiotics are used to prevent bacterial infection.
“It is good news that the UK is taking a lead in trying to address this problem and here in Glasgow a number of research teams are looking specifically at the molecular basis of antimicrobial resistance and attempting to develop a next generation of drugs to deal with the issue"
First published: 17 July 2014
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