Bengaluru-based C-CAMP announces tripartite Indo-Dutch-Swiss collaboration platform to combat antimicrobial resistance

AMR occurs when fungi, bacteria, and parasites change over time and no longer respond to medicines making infections harder to treat.

“Antibiotics such as Penicillin are pillars of modern medicine that have enabled decades of healthcare advances. However indiscriminate use of antibiotics over time in food systems, agriculture, and health has now brought us to a situation where vulnerable populations particularly neonates, elderly, and immunocompromised are greatly exposed to life-threatening, intractable infections. A UN report projects an annual loss of nearly 10 million lives globally by 2050 due to AMR. To tackle this very serious problem, global bodies including the WHO, the G7 Health deliberation, and the G20 countries in the 2023 meeting in New Delhi have pushed for the One Health approach,” C-CAMP said.

C-CAMP said with Swissnex in India joining this programme, this agreement will not only encourage path-breaking science but also prioritise faster impact on-field nationally and globally.

The tripartite agreement was announced at the C-CAMP premises by its Director-CEO Dr Taslimarif Saiyed, and Jonas Brunschwig, CEO, Consul General, Swissnex in India, at an event during the Indo-Swiss AMR Innovation Dialogue.

At the launch of this partnership, Prof Ajay Sood, the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, said in a video message, “I congratulate C-CAMP, Swissnex, and the Dutch Embassy for their vision to build this international Indo-European Accelerator for One Health under the aegis of the IAIH (India AMR Innovation Hub). The AMR challenge is huge and cannot be solved by one country. This agreement I’m certain will bring together the best minds, regulators, science, and financial expertise to accelerate the idea-to-market journey of emerging interventions.”

Dr Saiyed said, “With Swissnex joining us, this reenergized WAAH! will leverage all the existing multi-national partners of IAIH in driving positive change in AMR innovations development, especially in diagnostics and drug discovery. At C-CAMP we have some of the world’s most exciting AMR innovations from therapeutics, diagnostics, and preventatives. We believe this collaboration will bring a global perspective to this rapidly evolving space in Indian R&D and accelerate product development across geographies.”

Jonas Brunschwig, CEO, Consul General, Swissnex in India, added, “A year ago, we signed a Collaboration Agreement with C-CAMP to deepen the Indo-Swiss relations in AMR innovation. Today we are entering a new phase with the launch of the Indo-Swiss Innovation Platform, a multi-year initiative to deepen the collaboration between our countries in health, sustainability, and digital transformation. It is auspicious that we are joining WAAH! during the Innovation Platform’s first activity: the Indo-Swiss AMR Innovation Dialogue, a three-day gathering of nearly 50 experts at the frontlines AMR, and it is great to do so in collaboration not only with India but also with Dutch peers.”