GSK responds to latest report from the O’Neill Review on antibiotic resistance

Patrick Vallance, GSK’s President of Pharmaceuticals R&D, said:

“It is essential that we find new ways to increase antibiotics R&D and create a future pipeline of new treatments. Antibiotic resistance is a hugely complex problem with potentially devastating consequences for public health. As one of the few companies still conducting research in this area, we welcome today’s report. 

“We are very encouraged by the ideas it sets out to modernise the economic model to encourage investment in research and ensure reasonable returns for successful innovation while discouraging unnecessary use of new antibiotics. We look forward to working closely with the AMR Review Team and others to take these ideas forward.”

Antibiotic research and GSK – background information

  • GSK is one of the few major pharmaceutical companies still active in antibiotics R&D. We have a legacy in antibiotics going back over 40 years and in the past decade we have invested around $1bn in R&D in this field.
  • Developing new antibiotics is very challenging, both scientifically and financially and we do not believe we can tackle the problem of antibiotic resistance alone. As with other major health challenges, we are stimulating innovation in new ways, looking outside our own labs and working in partnerships with other pharmaceutical and biotech companies, academic institutions and public bodies.
  • In 2012 we announced a collaboration with AstraZeneca, other pharmaceutical companies and public partners to join forces on antibiotic research. The research programme, known as NewDrugs4BadBugs, is funded jointly the Innovative Medicines Initiative, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, with a budget of up to 224 million Euros.
  • We are also involved in a unique collaboration with the US government’s Biomedical Advanced Research & Development Authority (BARDA), which we entered in to in 2013 with $200m funding from the US Department for Health & Human Services, to support the development of treatments for both conventional and biothreat pathogens.
  • Alongside these collaborative efforts, GSK has a research unit dedicated to antibiotics. We have several assets in our pipeline, including one we are investigating in gram negative bacteria. We are also exploring novel approaches to tackling infections, including focusing on the human immune system, investigating mechanisms to help the body fight disease, rather than using toxins to kill infections. 

Cautionary statement regarding forward-looking statements
GSK cautions investors that any forward-looking statements or projections made by GSK, including those made in this announcement, are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Such factors include, but are not limited to, those described under Item 3.D 'Risk factors' in the company's Annual Report on Form 20-F for 2014.