It's time to jump
I have found myself talking about boiling frogs a lot lately in explaining our responses to #covid19 versus the #antimicrobialresistance (AMR) pandemics. The premise is that if a frog is put suddenly into boiling water, it will jump out. However, if the frog is put in lukewarm water, which is then brought to a boil slowly, it will not perceive the danger and will be cooked to death. COVID-19 came as a complete surprise (even though it should not have been), and we are seeing a massive response. With the AMR pandemic, on the other hand, the problem has been increasing for decades and a broad-based sense of urgency has not yet emerged. The temperature is rising, and we are getting close to the boiling point.
Today, AMR takes the lives of at least 700,000 people per year, a number quite similar to the death toll attributed to COVID-19, which killed about 375,000 people in the first half of 2020. However, the difference between the two is that AMR will kill more than 700.000 this year, more than that the following year, the year after, and so forth quickly moving into the millions. Hopefully, deaths from COVID-19 will be decreasing next year.
As worrying as the AMR threat is, the great news is that we know what the solutions are: better stewardship and new better drugs. Finding and advancing the new better drugs is what the REPAIR Impact Fund is all about. Our global call for for anti-infective investment proposals is open until July 31st. You can find details below and more information below and at our website.
The REPAIR Impact Fund’s global call for investment proposals:
- This is REPAIR’s first global call and the 5th since launch in 2018
- Prior efforts focused only on North America and Europe
- The 4 prior calls produced about 180 proposals from which we have invested about USD 50m in 8 companies so far
- Deadline for submissions is Friday July 31st
- Please see further details on our website: www.repair-impact-fund.com