Companies must responsibly manufacture the antimicrobials society needs

Researchers from the University of York reported last year that the concentrations of antibiotics in some of the world’s rivers exceed the predicted no-effect concentrations (PNECs) published by the AMR Industry Alliance, a private-sector coalition that aims to provide sustainable solutions to curb antimicrobial resistance. PNECs represent antibiotic concentrations at which the alliance believes — based on the best evidence available — there will be no adverse environmental impact and at which selection pressure is minimal on microbes in the environment to mutate and develop drug resistance.