Project Syndicate: The Global Security Threat of Antimicrobial Resistance
Tadataka Yamada, venture partner at Frazier Healthcare Partners

“…The global threat of emerging or resistant infections must be viewed first and foremost in [the context of investing in national defense and security], with all countries committed to providing financing, intellectual capital, and available resources to support the discovery, development, manufacture, stockpiling, and equitable distribution of new antimicrobial agents and vaccines. … Country investments should be pooled to create a substantial pipeline of products to combat infectious threats. … An alternative would be to create a full-fledged, global, not-for-profit pharmaceutical company with a research budget equal to that of the world’s top five for-profit companies, and with the singular objective of creating a pipeline of products to address the challenge of infectious threats. … It goes without saying that this would be a complicated undertaking, with many details to be worked out. But somehow we must suspend disbelief and take action now, lest we be caught off-guard against an imminent global threat. This is a battle we cannot afford to lose” (7/27).