Turning the tide of antibiotic resistance and discovering ways to arrest the emergence of multi-drug resistance micro-organisms and discover new drugs are daily challenges in academia. We face these challenges knowing that the antibiotic pipeline is dwindling and that effective antibiotics become fewer each year. It is imperative that all concerned work together to enhance our research power, ensure we invest in appropriate research initiatives and support the translation of our discoveries into the antibiotic treatments of the future. None of this can be done in isolation, or achieved without a cohesive framework that embraces academic, clinical and commercial research. Antibiotic Action offers us a starting point through which this ambition can be achieved – I support its aims and call others from within the medical, research and regulatory professions to do likewise. We should not leave it too late; we cannot afford the consequences of doing so.

Professor David Eastwood | Vice-Chancellor | University of Birmingham | UK