Revitalizing the antibiotic pipeline by implementing new R&D pull incentives

With the 2024 UN High-Level Meeting on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and its political declaration, together with the biennial AMR Ministerial Meeting, the world has set an ambitious agenda to tackle AMR. The next four years offer renewed political momentum to deliver progress ahead of the next UN High-Level Meeting on AMR in 2029. A central priority is creating the necessary policy frameworks that stimulate R&D investment. This is an issue that has received sustained attention at the G7 over the past decade, led most recently by the UK, Germany, Japan, Italy, and, in 2025, Canada.

Alongside this political leadership, the global pharmaceutical industry is committed to playing a central role in addressing this challenge.

This brief identifies the key barriers to antibiotic R&D and the policy measures needed to address them. Sustainable, effective pull incentives are urgently required to ensure a reliable pipeline of new antibiotics for patients and health systems. We set out how these incentives should be designed and implemented, guided by a set of core principles to maximize their impact.

The industry stands ready to work with governments to put these solutions in place. Success will drive investment across the full R&D spectrum, strengthen the pipeline, and deliver new antibiotics to those who need them.