Pfizer and industry partners present roadmap for overcoming the threat that resistance poses.

In an unprecedented collaboration, today, Pfizer and 13 industry partners released a comprehensive plan of action that lays out four key commitments we pledge to deliver by 2020 to reduce the rising incidence of antimicrobial resistance.

Antimicrobial resistance is a natural process by which bacteria and other microbes develop resistance to the drugs commonly used to treat infections, including antibiotics, antivirals, antiparasitics, and antifungals. In 2016, an independent review team commissioned by the U.K. government and made up of experts from both the public and private sectors determined that, without effective global action, the rise of resistance could claim 10 million lives globally each year by 2050.

In January 2016, Pfizer, together with more than 100 leading pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and diagnostics companies, issued a global call to action to address the issue of antimicrobial resistance.