Venus Remedies joins AMR industry alliance to combat imminent global health threat

New Delhi: Venus Remedies, one of India’s leading research-driven pharmaceutical companies, has joined the league of over 100 globally renowned organizations as a member of the AMR Industry Alliance (AMRIA) in continuation of its commitment to develop solutions to combat the grave public health threat posed by antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Welcoming Venus Remedies as a new member, Melissa Mitchell, Secretariat Lead of AMR Industry Alliance, said, “We are delighted to have Venus Remedies join our ranks. As an organisation, they lead by example and make commendable efforts to counter the threat of AMR by improving the access of AMR-relevant drugs to third-world countries and encouraging appropriate antibiotic use, along with good stewardship activities. Leading companies in the life science sector, like Venus Remedies, are playing a vital role in the mitigation of AMR and continue to strengthen multi-stakeholder collaborations.”

The AMR Industry Alliance is the largest private sector coalition working towards curbing AMR through a coordinated and multipronged response. Since its inception in 2017, it has been persistently contributing towards sustainable solutions to curb AMR by creating a broad industry momentum and facilitating collaboration between the public and private sectors.

The Alliance membership comprises R&D-based pharmaceutical, generics, diagnostics and biotechnology companies, apart from industry associations. Together, they have collectively invested over US$1.9 billion in AMR-relevant R&D in FY 2020. In addition to promoting innovation to prevent, diagnose and treat drug-resistant infections, this global coalition is checking the emergence of resistance through appropriate use, addressing barriers to patient access for appropriate drugs and advancing responsible manufacturing.

The Alliance recently released its third Progress Report, reflecting on collective achievements from the life sciences industry. The findings underline continued focus and leadership from the life sciences sector in the fight against AMR and continued cross-sector collaborations, while recommending policy and regulatory changes towards a more sustainable marketplace.

Hailing the membership as an endorsement of the notable work done by Venus Remedies to tackle AMR, Saransh Chaudhary, CEO, Venus Medicine Research Centre (VMRC), said, “ It is an honour to collaborate with the global life sciences industry under the aegis of the AMR Industry Alliance and devise sustainable solutions to AMR. I hope this association will amplify our existing efforts against AMR at a global level by shaping relevant AMR policies and plugging the leaks in the current antibiotic research and manufacturing landscape with focus on access and appropriate use.”

The AMR Industry Alliance membership of Venus Remedies, which has played a commendable role in ensuring appropriate manufacturing and access of antibiotics, is part of the company’s ongoing efforts to join hands with other organisations in a determined fight against AMR at a global scale. “Having a presence in 80 countries, Venus Remedies has enabled the sustainable supply of quality-assured antibiotics to countries which did not have easy access to them,” said Chaudhary.

Venus Remedies is among the very few R&D-based pharma firms in the world focusing on AMR for over a decade now. Many of its superbug-tackling solutions and last-line generic antibiotics have helped millions of patients and prevented the spread of bacterial resistance from one species to another.

Exploring ways to evolve a consensus on long-term solutions to AMR, VMRC has set up a non-profit organization called Preserving Life of Existing Antibiotics (PLEA), which has been working towards spreading awareness about the repercussions of antibiotic misuse through special drives and health camps. It is also promoting antibiotic stewardship by making all-out efforts to ensure adherence to guidelines on antibiotic use in hospitals, especially infection control practices in ICUs.