About

Background and problem statement

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the most serious global health threats of our time. Chronic and drug-resistant bacterial infections already cause millions of deaths worldwide each year and place an increasing burden on healthcare systems, economies, and societies. In Europe alone, tens of thousands of people die annually from resistant infections, and hospital-acquired infections continue to rise.

Despite the urgent need, innovation in antibacterial drug development has stalled. Most antibiotics in clinical use today are based on discoveries made decades ago, and only a handful of truly new classes have reached patients in the past 30 years. Scientific, economic, and regulatory challenges have led many pharmaceutical companies to withdraw from this area, leaving a fragmented innovation landscape.

END2AMR was created to address this gap by bringing together leading academic researchers, SMEs, industry, and non-profit organisations to develop novel therapeutic approaches that go beyond conventional antibiotics and can be translated into future patient treatments.

Aim

• Develop and validate innovative therapeutic modalities to treat chronic and drug-resistant bacterial infections
• Address infections caused by Gram-negative bacteria and mycobacteria, including tuberculosis
• Create a versatile toolbox of drug discovery and delivery technologies that can be applied across pathogens
• Advance at least three novel approaches to preclinical proof-of-concept
• Progress at least one long-acting therapeutic toward preclinical candidate status
• Strengthen Europe’s AMR research and innovation ecosystem through public–private collaboration

Approach

END2AMR takes a platform-based, pre-competitive approach to antimicrobial innovation. Rather than relying on a single solution, the project evaluates a portfolio of novel antibacterial modalities alongside innovative delivery technologies that can be used alone or in combination.

Using representative bacterial pathogens as case studies, the consortium develops and tests new mechanisms of action, explores how bacteria survive in difficult-to-treat environments (such as inside human cells or biofilms), and designs delivery systems that improve drug exposure, safety, and patient adherence.

Active pipeline management and close interaction between work packages ensure that resources are dynamically focused on the most promising approaches, accelerating progress toward future clinical development.

Expected Impact

END2AMR is expected to deliver impact across multiple levels:

• Scientific impact: New tools, datasets, and proof-of-concepts for antibacterial drug discovery
• Clinical impact: A pipeline of novel therapies with potential to treat infections that are currently poorly addressed
• Public health impact: Improved preparedness for AMR and future infectious disease outbreaks
• Economic & industrial impact: Strengthened European leadership in antimicrobial innovation and new opportunities for SMEs and spin-outs
• Societal impact: Progress toward more effective, patient-centred treatments for vulnerable populations affected by AMR