BEAM Alliance

The growing risk of multi-drug resistant bacteria is a global public health crisis recognized by many governments; therefore, to combat the spread of resistant-bacteria and superbugs, new antibiotics, or alternative therapies must be developed. However, the financial attraction for R&D investment from large pharmaceutical companies is lacking, therefore, innovation in this therapeutic area is predominantly steered by small and medium pharma companies. To tackle the obstacle that superbugs present to society expeditiously, new policies and R&D incentives are needed to stimulate development in the EU. As an answer to this urgent need, we have formed the BEAM Alliance. The BEAM Alliance represents 50 European biopharmaceutical companies (small and medium size (SME)) from 12 European countries involved in developing innovative products to combat antimicrobial resistance in humans and beyond. The Working Group objective is to produce a new position paper regarding establishment of economic incentives in order to better sustain the innovation efforts of small and medium biopharmaceutical companies. The Working Group will collaborate with the existing community of stakeholders dedicated to implementing tangible strategies, including the EC DG SANTE, the UK AMR Review, WHO and the DRIVE-AB consortium. The BEAM Alliance Working Group should thus allow for expression of a unique and unprecedented opinion from the European SMEs perspective.