Overcoming Resistance: The Expert Panel on Antimicrobial Availability

Effective antimicrobials enable much of modern healthcare, including surgeries, transplants, and cancer treatments. People with compromised immune systems are particularly dependent on a reliable supply of effective antimicrobials to manage infections. There is an urgent need for new and accessible antimicrobial treatments to ensure sustained life-saving effectiveness of antimicrobials in the face of rising antimicrobial resistance (AMR). However, few novel antimicrobials are coming to market, and of those that do, many do not seek approval in Canada.

Overcoming Resistance explores the challenges Canada faces when accessing high-value antimicrobials and describes pull incentives that could help bring existing antimicrobials to market and encourage the development of new ones. The report also analyzes the role of complementary policies relating to R&D, regulatory review, surveillance, and diagnostics, which all have the potential to enhance the impact of a pull incentive.