In 1928, legendary scientist Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, a highly effective antibiotic to fight bacterial infection. His remarkable discovery signalled a major change in human health and well-being. Infections that were once lethal were now treated easily. Lifespans soared.
Antibiotics—one type of antimicrobial drug—continued to develop and became increasingly powerful. Penicillins were followed by tetracyclines, macrolides, and other classes of bacteria-fighting drugs. They all work. Until they don’t. Signs of resistance have appeared against all classes of these conventional antibiotics.
Fleming himself predicted that a time would come when penicillin would become less effective due to overuse and underdosing, a concern he shared publicly in his 1945 Nobel Prize lecture. He probably could not have imagined the widespread use of antibiotics in modern agriculture or the careless disposal of antibiotics into rivers, which have also contributed to the modern global-scale AMR crisis.
Over time, many microorganisms have learned how to defend themselves and resist the drugs. These are the “superbugs” we hear about in the news and, increasingly, in the hallways of our hospitals.
The incidence of antimicrobial resistance has been increasing dramatically. Without a transformational innovation in the treatment of infections, it has been estimated that by 2050, antibiotic-resistant infections could kill 10 million people a year (which is more than all cancer deaths combined). The World Health Organization has called antimicrobial resistance one of the three greatest threats to global health.
Without a new approach, surgeries with a high risk of infection—like many cardiac procedures, hip replacements, and other surgeries we now take for granted—will become too risky to perform. Simple pneumonias could kill otherwise healthy people. And this could all happen in our children’s lifetimes.
While scientists and policy-makers have been aware of the emerging crisis for years, an effective solution has been elusive. Here’s why.
Most new attempts to develop new antibiotics follow the old approach—variations of the same ideas that have shaped the current infection treatment paradigm. In essence, conventional antibiotics attack harmful bacteria in one or more of three ways: by targeting protein synthesis, DNA replication, or cell wall development.
New antibiotics under this existing paradigm might work on their own or in combination with other conventional antibiotics for a while, but history has shown us that attempts to control bacterial growth with similar antibiotics attacking the same three targets will ultimately fail as bacteria become resistant to them. And so, a new solution is needed. A new paradigm to redefine the treatment of infection. The well-being of future generations depends on it. The Viotika team believes it has a new solution.
Additional Resources
World Health Organization
Antimicrobial Resistance
Interagency Coordination Group (IACG) on Antimicrobial Resistance
No Time to Wait: Securing the Future from Drug-Resistant Infections Report to the Secretary-General of the United Nations (2019)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Biggest Threats and Data
Government of Canada
Antibiotic (antimicrobial) Resistance