F130 How Can We Optimize the Use of Antibiotics? (Oliver Schacht, OpGen)

It is absolutely scary to get an infection and run out of options to treat it. Broadly speaking, existing antibiotics are and are going to keep losing their effectiveness, if antibiotics and antimicrobials are not used effectively. In this episode, you will hear a discussion with Mr. Oliver Schacht, a corporate finance professional and expert in the molecular diagnostics industry. He is the CEO of OpGen which developed cloud-based software to identify, track and predict antibiotic-resistant infections. In this episode, he talks about the factors impacting the global issue of antimicrobial resistance, the role of rapid diagnostics in the process of effective prescribing of antibiotics, and also the political and economic factors impacting the development of antibiotics.

Questions addressed:
- Why the use of antibiotics still very ineffective today? Let's talk about why broad-spectrum antibiotics are prescribed ineffectively - we still see too many over and undertreated patients? Can you also elaborate on how broad this issue is?

- In 2019 WHO identified 32 antibiotics in clinical development that address the WHO list of priority pathogens, of which only six were classified as innovative. Why is developing antibiotics such an issue?

- One would think that with the scientific and computing advancements, in-silico discoveries, and testing, we'll discover new antibiotics rather easily…?

- 700.000 deaths due to bacterial infection, 50.000 due to drug-resistant infections. To which extent could these numbers be decreased given that resistant bacteria or so-called superbugs are already here?

- What is the role of rapid diagnostics in preventing antimicrobial resistance?

- OpGen developed cloud-based software to identify, track, and predict antibiotic-resistant infections. You do this based on genetic information.

- Let's elaborate a bit further on how antibiotic resistance occurs. It's clear that bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites change over time and no longer respond to medicines. But if a specific patient will respond to a specific drug differs from person to person, right?

- What makes a person susceptible to an antibiotic or not?

- How does your solution work, in terms understandable to a 5-year-old?

- When we talk about superbugs and deaths due to drug-resistant infections, we usually think about hospital-acquired infections. However, the majority of human consumption of antibiotics occurs in the community setting. To which extent is OpGen solution applicable to that?

You are present in 11 EU countries. How exactly do in your opinion, negotiations with healthcare institutions differ based on the country? Are there any specifics you can share?

In order to improve antimicrobial stewardship globally, several things would need to be coordinated: databases about outbreaks and bugs becoming resistant. Broadscale rapid diagnostics would need to be in place to detect the bugs and resistance. Then there's of course the awareness about prescribing, incentives for new antibiotics development etc. What do you see as promising efforts to curb antimicrobial resistance?

[lolman]

This is quite interesting! I wonder whats the main difference between genmark diagnostics and opgen when it comes to the core business? I was just reading about Roche purchasing genmark diagnostics and i would like to know how this could impact the future of opgen?