Swiss Round Table on Antibiotics

The Swiss Round Table on Antibiotics has made remarkable progress in several areas of activity during the last year. The RTA – led by Barbara Polek, the managing director of the association – was able to strengthen its governance structure and enlarge its operational team to four people. Another major organisational milestone was the relocation of the association into a new office space located in the Swiss Institute for Translational and Entrepreneurial Medicine (sitem-insel) in Bern.

During the last twelve months, the RTA has been focussing its activities on the Pull project – the association’s flagship initiative that seeks to promote the launch of a subscription model that will decouple revenues from sales volumes of antibiotics. The RTA has been raising the awareness of key stakeholders that new forms of reimbursement are needed to bring innovative antimicrobials on the market and secure their supply.

More than ten new members have joined the association in 2023, many of whom made in-kind contributions, donations, or provided sponsorship. The significant voluntary contributions by members and non-members alike are of primordial importance for all of the activities of the Swiss Round Table on Antibiotics.

The RTA would like to thank its members who approved all of the requests of the association during the 2024 general assembly, thus acknowledging the positive development the association experienced last year in a difficult environment. The Swiss Round Table on Antibiotics is planning to hold a strategy workshop in the second half of 2024 to define priority areas of activity, as well as the pathways and the timing to their deployment.

Professor Andreas Widmer’s insightful talk following this year’s general assembly of the Swiss Round Table on Antibiotics pointed out the emergence and rapid spread of multi-drug resistant pathogens in Switzerland, e.g., Escherichia coli, Streptococci pneumoniae, Enterococcus faecium. Multi-drug resistant pathogens and the growing prevalence of those with extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL) pose another considerable threat to healthcare provision, especially because they can impede the prophylactic use of antibiotics related to stem cell therapies and different kinds of surgeries, particularly implant surgery.

The RTA wishes to express its sincere gratitude to all organisations and individuals who have been supporting its activities throughout the last year. The Swiss Round Table on Antibiotics is looking forward to another groundbreaking year that will bring the organisation one step closer towards its goal of testing a pull project in Switzerland.