Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global threat and, while the situation in Australia is dire with 1031 deaths directly attributable to AMR in 2020, globally things are far worse. Within the 4.95 million deaths associated with AMR globally, a terrible irony is that the Indo-Pacific region includes many of the countries most affected by AMR (India, Bangladesh and China) and the country so far least affected (Australia). Low investment stands in the way to sustainable solutions to the AMR crisis e.g. US venture capital invested 16X more into oncology versus antimicrobial drugs; MRFF invested less than 1% of its budget into AMR solutions. This, despite numerous innovations and solutions ready for deployment.
We have been working from the proposition that AMR is building in our environments: homes, workplaces, schools, and only thereafter is found in our healthcare settings. We will present data from surveys of the run-off into waterways around Melbourne that shows AMR pathogens such as Klebsiella are easily cultivated. In partnership with Traditional Owners, we have used the same water sources to isolate new bacteriophages (phages) and extensive analysis shows that these phages can be readily evolved to broaden their host range (i.e. to kill more types of Klebsiella) and can be selected to have extended shelf-life. These versatile phages and the antibacterial products that can be derived from them offer prospects for sustainable solutions in decolonizing patients, treating drug-resistant infections and decontaminating clinical equipment such as ventilators.