Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has quickly become one of the most pressing health and economic challenges of our time, and it’s creating an inflection point for biotech innovation and investment. With at least 1.27 million deaths attributed to AMR annually1 and projections suggesting $1 trillion in additional healthcare costs in the US alone by 2050,2 the cost of inaction is clear.
Solving AMR’s moral imperative makes it a recurring priority topic on the G7’s agenda. But beyond a moral obligation, investment in AMR is also a smart economic decision, and investors have begun disrupting the biotech market by supporting the momentum of the novel AMR solution pipeline.
The Case for Investing in AMR
Historically, AMR-related ventures were considered risky, burdened by lengthy development timelines, regulatory complexity, and lower perceived financial upside. However, forward-thinking biotech investors have recognized that finding solutions to AMR is more than a humanitarian necessity—it’s an opportunity.
Emerging data show that critical AMR interventions can return between $7 and $13 for every $1 invested.3 If executed at scale, these interventions could inject nearly $1 trillion into the global economy by 2050, while dramatically reducing healthcare costs and improving patient outcomes worldwide.3
Thankfully, increased policy support is catching up to these positive economic numbers, which can help biotech startups and scaleups focused on AMR gain traction. For example, consider the GAIN (Generating Antibiotic Incentives Now) Act, enacted in 2012 as part of the FDA Safety and Innovation Act (FDASIA), which extends market exclusivity of qualifying antimicrobial drugs, streamlines the FDA review process, and provides priority review status for antibacterial and antifungal drugs that target serious or life-threatening infections.
Over the years, however, the conventional model for pharma R&D (grants and subsidies) has proven insufficient for supporting AMR innovation. The inherent paradox – the fact that AMR solutions must be limited in use to prevent the emergence of further resistance – makes high sales volume of these drugs unattainable. And when revenue is tied directly to sales of an AMR solution, the logic of investment is upended.
The US’s proposed PASTEUR (Pioneering Antimicrobial Subscriptions to End Upsurging Resistance) Act addresses this obstacle. It is designed to reduce development risk for manufacturers and create a favorable environment for AMR investing through subscription-based payments, offering drugmakers predictable revenue streams regardless of sales volume.
The European Union (EU) is leading the exploration of this “pull” approach of subscription-based models for drug reimbursement in order to decouple payment from sales volume. The EU is considering a transferable exclusivity voucher (TEV), which would provide a 12-month extension of regulatory data protection (RDP) that could be used on other products in the portfolio of the antibiotic developer or sold to another company.4 Plus, individual EU member states, like Sweden, are implementing national pull incentive pilots, including subscription models.
With forward-thinking policy shifts and increased global awareness of the severity of the AMR threat, investing in AMR solutions is becoming less risky and more attractive than ever before.
Biotech Innovation Rises to the Challenge
Companies like TAXIS Pharmaceuticals are at the forefront of this reduced investment risk thanks to its high-impact investigational AMR solutions. TAXIS is working to address one of the toughest AMR challenges: Gram-negative bacteria, where treatment options are scarce and resistance is escalating.
A core focus of TAXIS’ strategy is efflux pump inhibitors, which represent a new drug class against Gram-negative multidrug-resistant pathogens. Efflux pumps are the biological mechanism used by bacteria to expel antibiotics before they can work. TAXIS’ approach of preventing antibiotics from being eliminated from bacterial cells – with its investigational efflux pump inhibitors (EPIs) – has the potential to rejuvenate the antibacterial drug discovery pipeline. And TAXIS’ approach to targeting this mechanism is modular and repeatable, allowing its platform to be applied across multiple resistant pathogens, creating a scalable roadmap for future drug discovery.
AMR is one of the few biotech sectors where underfunding and urgent need intersect with scalable innovation and economic upside. With the right science, support, and strategy, this market isn’t just viable – it’s primed for transformation. Savvy investors who see this opportunity for what it is can capture value not just from product commercialization, but also from licensing, partnerships, and policy-driven incentives.
In the same way that oncology investments transformed biotech portfolios a decade ago, AMR stands poised to drive the next wave of high-impact biotech ROI—especially for those who invest in companies that are committed to scalability, innovation, and therapeutic impact.
1 World Health Organization: Antimicrobial Resistance Key Facts, 2023.
2 World Bank Group: “Drug-Resistant Infections: A Threat to our Economic Future,” 2016 report. https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/323311493396993758/final-report
Frank Carlo Pasqualone, MBA
Joe DePinto, MBA
Gregory G. Mario, MBA, President and CEO