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Cooperative development of antimicrobials: looking back to look ahead

Nature Reviews Microbiology volume 13, pages 651–657 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

As foundations and governments mobilize to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR), several experiments in academic–industrial collaboration have emerged. Here, I examine two historical precedents, the Penicillin Project and the Malaria Project of the Second World War, and two contemporary examples, the Tuberculosis Drug Accelerator programme and the Tres Cantos Open Lab. These and related experiments suggest that different strategies can be effective in managing academic–industrial collaborations, and that such joint projects can prosper in both multisite and single-site forms, depending on the specific challenges and goals of each project. The success of these strategies and the crisis of AMR warrant additional investment in similar projects.

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Figure 1: Example of a network model: the Tuberculosis Drug Accelerator.
Figure 2: Example of a hub-and-spokes model: the Tres Cantos Open Lab Foundation.

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Acknowledgements

The author thanks L. L. Tmanova (Wood Library, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, USA) for assistance, and K. Rhee and K. Burns-Huang (Weill Cornell Medical College) for their comments. The Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Weill Cornell Medical College is supported by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation.

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  1. Carl Nathan is at the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medical College, 1300 New York Avenue, New York, New York 10065, USA.,

    Carl Nathan

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Correspondence to Carl Nathan.

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Competing interests

C.N. is a participant in the Tuberculosis Drug Accelerator (TBDA) (funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation) and a member of the Board of Governors of the Tres Cantos Open Lab Foundation.

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Nathan, C. Cooperative development of antimicrobials: looking back to look ahead. Nat Rev Microbiol 13, 651–657 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro3523

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