• Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the top global public health threats. It is estimated that bacterial AMR was directly responsible for 1.27 million deaths in 2019 and indirectly contributed to 4.95 million deaths globally (1).
• Although antibiotics are essential drugs, being the foundation for global health and of modern medicine, the current investment in the development of new therapies is not sufficient to counteract the rise of AMR.
• Debiopharm is once again a major sponsor for the World Antimicrobial Resistance (World AMR) conference and will be driving the dialogue on Market Access with a presentation and roundtable discussion focusing on solutions to tackle reimbursement challenges.

Debiopharm (www.debiopharm.com), a Swiss-based, global biopharmaceutical company, aiming to establish tomorrow’s standard-of-care to cure cancer and infectious diseases, announced today their participation in the 2024 World AMR conference from September 5^th-6^th in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. For the last decade, Debiopharm has been committed to developing new antimicrobials for patients by conducting research on a novel class of antibiotics that target hard-to-treat infections, caused by WHO priority pathogens. Now in its third year of sponsoring World AMR, Debiopharm is proud to support the conference’s mission to unite key decision-makers in AMR from international government bodies, policy organizations, and the healthcare sector to meet, discuss, and formulate initiatives to tackle the emerging threat of AMR effectively.

This year, Debiopharm’s Head of Global Value & Access, Jennifer Quinn, will present within the Impact, Policy and Awareness Track and lead a roundtable discussion on how to move the needle on fair reimbursement for antibiotics. Focused on actionable ways to leverage current reimbursement models, Jennifer’s presentation will outline a tangible framework for payer negotiations and discuss evidence needs for products that will reach the market before ‘pull incentives’ become available.

“We’re looking forward to open discussions and networking opportunities with public organizations and other infectious disease industry experts to put into place practical solutions to combat the reimbursement challenged that help to fuel AMR.” – Jennifer Quinn, Head of Global Value & Access.

About afabicin

Afabicin (Debio 1450) is Debiopharm’s first-in-class FabI inhibitor, selectively targeting Staphylococcus’ essential bacterial fatty acid biosynthesis pathway. Afabicin is active against Staphylococcus spp., of which methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains are high on the WHO global priority pathogen list and deemed a “serious threat” by the CDC. Afabicin can be administered orally or intravenously. Promising results have been obtained in a comparative double-blind Phase 2 trial with afabicin in acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections. Currently, a global Phase 2 trial in bone and joint infections is being conducted, comparing afabicin to standard antibiotics.

About Debio 1453

Analogous to afabicin, the preclinical compound Debio 1453 is a potential first-in-class pathogen-specific drug targeting the essential bacterial fatty acid biosynthesis pathway. Debio 1453 has been developed as an oral drug with activity against. Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the bacteria causing the sexually transmitted disease gonorrhea. Untreated gonorrhea can cause serious and permanent health issues including infertility, ectopic pregnancy, long-term pelvic/abdominal pain, blindness in newborns and in rare cases also have a lethal outcome.

Debiopharm’s fight against antimicrobial resistance

Debiopharm, an innovation-focused, Swiss biopharmaceutical company is one of the few privately owned companies developing novel class antibiotics to combat hard-to-treat infections. Through their unique partnership-based business model, the company is advancing pathogen-specific antibiotics from early stage through phase II clinical research with afabicin, specifically targeting staphylococci. As a result of high selectivity, FabI inhibitors specifically target selected pathogens, and potentially preserve intestinal microbiota. Debiopharm’s FabI inhibitors meet all four WHO 2020 innovation criteria: new chemical class, new target, new mode of action and no cross-resistance to other antibiotic classes.

For more information, please visit www.debiopharm.com

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Sources

1. Antimicrobial Resistance Collaborators. (2022). Global burden of bacterial antimicrobial resistance in 2019: a systematic analysis. The Lancet; 399(10325): P629-655.

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