McMaster researchers and industry partners develop new recommendations to combat ‘superbugs’ in Canada

A new proposal developed by an interdisciplinary team of McMaster University researchers calls upon Canadian public health officials to make necessary changes to how novel antibiotics are approved, procured and accessed in Canada.

Led by Lori Burrows, associate director of the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research (IIDR), this new work is a direct response to the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

AMR occurs when microbes develop ways to protect themselves from the effects of antimicrobial medications, such as antibiotics. These resistant microbes are colloquially known as ‘superbugs.’

Today, several novel antibiotics — drugs with efficacy against these superbugs — have been approved for use in other jurisdictions but remain unavailable to Canadian patients.