27 Février 2017
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The list is intended to spur governments to put in place policies that incentivize basic science and advanced R&D by both publicly funded agencies and the private sector investing in new antibiotic discovery. It will provide guidance to new R&D initiatives such as the WHO/DNDi Global Antibiotic R&D Partnership that is engaging in not-for-profit development of new antibiotics.
Tuberculosis—whose resistance to traditional treatment has been growing in recent years—was not included in the list because it is targeted by other, dedicated programmes. Other bacteria that were not included, such as streptococcus A and B and chlamydia, have low levels of resistance to existing treatments and do not currently pose a significant public health threat.
The list was developed in collaboration with the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Tübingen, Germany, using a multi-criteria decision analysis technique vetted by a group of international experts. The criteria for selecting pathogens on the list were: how deadly the infections they cause are; whether their treatment requires long hospital stays; how frequently they are resistant to existing antibiotics when people in communities catch them; how easily they spread between animals, from animals to humans, and from person to person; whether they can be prevented (e.g. through good hygiene and vaccination); how many treatment options remain; and whether new antibiotics to treat them are already in the R&D pipeline.
“New antibiotics targeting this priority list of pathogens will help to reduce deaths due to resistant infections around the world,” says Prof Evelina Tacconelli, Head of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Tübingen and a major contributor to the development of the list. “Waiting any longer will cause further public health problems and dramatically impact on patient care.”
While more R&D is vital, alone, it cannot solve the problem. To address resistance, there must also be better prevention of infections and appropriate use of existing antibiotics in humans and animals, as well as rational use of any new antibiotics that are developed in future.
WHO priority pathogens list for R&D of new antibiotics
Priority 1: CriticAL |
1. Acinetobacter baumannii, carbapenem-resistant 2. Pseudomonas aeruginosa, carbapenem-resistant 3. Enterobacteriaceae, carbapenem-resistant, ESBL-producing |
Priority 2: high |
4.Enterococcus faecium, vancomycin-resistant 5.Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant, vancomycin-intermediate and resistant 6.Helicobacter pylori, clarithromycin-resistant 7.Campylobacter spp., fluoroquinolone-resistant 8.Salmonellae, fluoroquinolone-resistant 9.Neisseria gonorrhoeae, cephalosporin-resistant, fluoroquinolone-resistant |
Priority 3: MEDIUM |
10.Streptococcus pneumoniae, penicillin-non-susceptible 11.Haemophilus influenzae, ampicillin-resistant 12.Shigella spp., fluoroquinolone-resistant |