A major European drive has been launched to tackle the problem of antibiotic resistance.
The project brings together doctors, researchers, university business schools and pharmaceutical companies.
Its aim is to find ways of stimulating the development of new antibiotics together with ways of setting standards for the use of the "dwindling reserve" of existing drugs.
The project is being backed by the European Union and has access to 9.4 million Euros of resources.
Organisers say about 25,000 people a year in the EU area die from infections that are resistant to multiple drugs.
The project includes the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy together with the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.
It has been called DRIVE-AB, standing for Driving Reinvestment in R&D and Responsible Antibiotic Use.
Project leader Stephen Harbarth, from the University of Geneva, said: “The dual crisis of antibiotic resistance and the near empty antibiotic pipeline pose a very real threat to human health. Only collaboration on this scale, involving stakeholders worldwide will be sufficient to address the crisis.
“I am very excited about the ambitious DRIVE-AB agenda that will be delivered by uniting a unique panel of experts across a range of disciplines including medical, scientific, business and economic sciences across clinical, academic and commercial sectors."
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