Researchers fight the resistant germs

New research center bundles competences

06/28/2012

For years, the spread of antibiotic-resistant germs is growing and more and more people suffer corresponding difficult-to-treat infection. But research has been stagnant so far, not least because the pharmaceutical industry is not expecting big profits here. The new German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) in Braunschweig should now remedy this situation.

The DZIF scientists are explicitly engaged in the fight against antibiotic-resistant pathogens, not only developing new vaccines and new antibiotics, but also significantly improving the diagnosis of multidrug-resistant pathogens. At the individual research sites throughout Germany, basic researchers, chemists, biologists and clinicians work together to address the growing threat posed by antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Also, for a year, clinicians will devote themselves exclusively to research on multidrug-resistant germs in a junior research program, thereby further establishing infectiology as a specialty, the DZIF managers report.

Center for Infection Research is dedicated to the fight against resistant pathogens
In view of the increasing spread of antibiotic-resistant pathogens, the establishment of the Center for Infection Research seems a logical consequence. However, the researchers of the DZIF are now under one „immense pressure, especially because the pharmaceutical industry no longer or hardly researches in this direction“, The project manager of the new Center for Infection Research, Timo Jäger, told the news agency „dpa“. From now on, the research community founded on Wednesday will deliver results, especially in the field of basic research. For here, the pharmaceutical companies are so far barely active and lack of prospects for the development of a blockbuster drug in infection research, which would promise the pharmaceutical companies billions in sales, can expect no increased commitment from the private sector for the future. Therefore „Is university research much more in demand?“, stressed Timo Jäger.

Research community should also develop new antibiotics and drugs
Today, according to the DZIF project manager, active substances and antibiotics have to be developed to a point that was previously not common in research and was not affordable.„We can and want to do this with the new kind of combination, because we not only have the basic researchers on board, but also the clinics and the doctors, who are close to the patient“, Hunter emphasizes the concerns of the new research community. For the experts, the establishment of a corresponding institution was long overdue, especially since in other countries corresponding centers of infection research have been working successfully for years. This is how Jäger sees Germany's position „in the context of infection research at the moment rather mediocre.“ Other countries like the USA or France are much further here. In France, for example, the well-connected Pasteur Institute makes a significant contribution to basic research in the field of infections. Through the newly created DZIF, the initiators also hope to advance German research in international comparison. (Fp)

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Resistant bacteria in German hospitals
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WHO warns of antibiotic resistance

Image: Sebastian Karkus