Daiichi Sankyo signed an agreement to participate in the Antimicrobial Resistance Screening Consortium led by the Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP). The Consortium is joined by Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited and Eisai Co., Ltd., and aims to acquire novel compounds with antibacterial activity using the chemical libraries of the respective companies.

Antimicrobial resistance is now a major global threat to public health. With only few antibiotics in development to treat serious bacterial infection, unless appropriate measures are taken promptly, drug-resistant bacteria could cause approximately 10 million deaths annually by 2050. Even today, it is estimated that around 700,000 people die of drug-resistant infections every year. Serious bacterial infections, and in particular Gram-negative bacterial infections, have been identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a global public health priority. The Japanese government also compiled the National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance in 2015, and participation in the Consortium is in line with Goal 5 of this Action Plan: "Promote research on antimicrobial resistance and foster research and development to secure the means to prevent, diagnose and treat the antimicrobial-resistant infections."

Within this Consortium, Daiichi Sankyo will have the support of its Medicinal Chemistry Research Laboratories, Oncology Function, R&D Division as well as Daiichi Sankyo RD Novare, and will provide compounds that have never been screened for antibacterial activity from the Daiichi Sankyo chemical library to be screened by GARDP. The pathogens to be screened will be bacteria identified as a critical priority for research and development of new antibiotics in WHO’s global priority pathogen list. Through the activities of the Consortium, GARDP seeks to identify novel compounds suitable for further optimization and development.

By taking part in activities of the Consortium to develop treatments for patients who are at risk from the threat of antimicrobial resistance, Daiichi Sankyo will contribute to realizing a world in which lives are no longer lost to drug-resistant bacteria.