EU launches new antimicrobial resistance projects
With a collective budget of €91m
The European Commission has launched 15 new research projects with a collective budget of €91m that aim to help fight antimicrobial resistance.
Announcing the funding, European Union (EU) research Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn said: 'Research and innovation are essential if we are to turn the tide against antimicrobial resistance', adding that the studies would strengthen 'the excellent work on-going to develop new drugs and treatments'.
Seven projects aim to develop novel antibiotics, vaccines or alternative treatments for drug-resistant microbial infections. Others aim to identify better ways of using currently available antibiotics, study antibiotic resistance within the food chain, or use novel nano-technology for delivering antimicrobial drugs.
The €7.9m FORMAMP project, for example, aims to develop innovative nano-formulations of antimicrobial peptides to treat bacterial infectious diseases. It is coordinated by Sweden’s Sveriges Tekniska Forskningsinstitut.
Another Sweden-coordinated project is the NeoStrep project, which will develop a Group B streptococcal vaccine to alleviate emerging antibiotic resistance through eliminating current prophylactic antibiotic strategies. It has a budget of €5.9m and is headed by Lund University.
A third project is the NOFUN project that will create novel antifungals to treat resistant organisms. It is coordinated by the University of Manchester in the UK and has a budget of €4.5m.