Kevin Outterson

Last updated
Kevin Outterson
Alma mater Northwestern University

University of Cambridge

University of Reading
OccupationLaw professor
Employer Boston University School of Law
Known forHealth Law, Intellectual Property Law, Antibiotic Resistance

Kevin Outterson is a lawyer, a professor of law and the Austin B. Fletcher Professor Boston University School of Law (2023-present). [1] He is also the executive director [2] of Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator (CARB-X), a global non-profit partnership that supports companies [3] developing new antibiotics, diagnostics, vaccines and other products to address drug-resistant bacterial infections.

CARB-X is funded by [4] the United States, United Kingdom, German, and Canadian governments, Wellcome, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Novo Nordisk Foundation. In 2022, CARB-X received a new commitment of funding [5] from BARDA and Wellcome of up to $370 million. In 2023, the German and UK governments renewed funding to CARB-X, committing an additional €41 million and £24 million; the government of Canada committed CAD$6.3 million over two years; and The Novo Nordisk Foundation committed USD$25 million over three years.

The G7 Health Ministers have cited CARB-X [6] among the critical initiatives to support as the G7 governments renew their 2021 commitment to address the most dangerous drug-resistant infections. In May 2023, the global threat of Antimicrobial Resistance and the importance off supporting CARB-X as a global push incentive that coordinates and accelerates much-needed antibacterial innovation was featured in G7 Hiroshima Leaders’ Communiqué [7] and the G7 Nagasaki Health Ministers’ Communiqué [8] . The same year, G20 Health Ministers cited CARB-X as playing a critical role in accelerating antimicrobial R&D and access [9] . In May 2024, the Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Multi-Stakeholder Partnership Platform issued a call for actionable steps to address the rising threat of AMR ahead of the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on AMR in September 2024. The call recommended increasing public investment in push incentives to catalyze global antimicrobial R&D efforts and cited CARB-X as a push mechanism that should be mobilized due to CARB-X’s critical role in supporting the discovery and development or new antimicrobials [10] .

Outterson's research focuses primarily on the law and economics of antibiotic resistance–including push and pull incentives–health law, intellectual property, and global access to medicine. [11]

Outterson has testified before Congress, the World Health Organization (WHO), UK Parliamentary working groups, and for the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Vermont, California and West Virginia state legislatures. [12]

He is co-director of the health law program at Boston University School of Law (2007–present) and associate fellow at the Royal Institute of International Affairs at Chatham House, [13] London (2014–present). He served on the Board of the American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics, and serves as faculty editor to the American Journal of Law & Medicine (2007–present). He is past editor-in-chief of the Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics (2010–2016). [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antimicrobial resistance</span> Resistance of microbes to drugs directed against them

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs when microbes evolve mechanisms that protect them from the effects of antimicrobials. All classes of microbes can evolve resistance where the drugs are no longer effective. Fungi evolve antifungal resistance, viruses evolve antiviral resistance, protozoa evolve antiprotozoal resistance, and bacteria evolve antibiotic resistance. Together all of these come under the umbrella of antimicrobial resistance. Microbes resistant to multiple antimicrobials are called multidrug resistant (MDR) and are sometimes referred to as superbugs. Although antimicrobial resistance is a naturally occurring process, it is often the result of improper usage of the drugs and management of the infections.

<i>Klebsiella pneumoniae</i> Species of bacterium

Klebsiella pneumoniae is a Gram-negative, non-motile, encapsulated, lactose-fermenting, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped bacterium. It appears as a mucoid lactose fermenter on MacConkey agar.

The Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics (APUA) is a non-profit organization founded in 1981 by Stuart B. Levy (1938–2019), Professor of Medicine at Tufts University and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. APUA's mission is to strengthen society's defenses against infectious disease by promoting appropriate access and use to antimicrobial agents and controlling antimicrobial resistance on a worldwide basis. APUA has a network of affiliated chapters in over 50 countries, and conducts applied antimicrobial resistance research, education, capacity building and advocacy at the global and grassroots levels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Global health</span> Health of populations in a global context

Global health is the health of the populations in the worldwide context; it has been defined as "the area of study, research, and practice that places a priority on improving health and achieving equity in health for all people worldwide". Problems that transcend national borders or have a global political and economic impact are often emphasized. Thus, global health is about worldwide health improvement, reduction of disparities, and protection against global threats that disregard national borders, including the most common causes of human death and years of life lost from a global perspective.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Health in Thailand</span> Overview of health in Thailand

Thailand has had "a long and successful history of health development," according to the World Health Organization. Life expectancy is averaged at seventy years. Non-communicable diseases form the major burden of morbidity and mortality, while infectious diseases including malaria and tuberculosis, as well as traffic accidents, are also important public health issues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">One Health Trust</span>

One Health Trust, formerly the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy, is a public health research organization with offices in Washington, D.C., New Delhi, and Bangalore, India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steffanie Strathdee</span> Canadian epidemiologist (born 1966)

Steffanie A. Strathdee is the Associate Dean of Global Health Sciences, Harold Simon Distinguished Professor at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and Co-Director at the Center for Innovative Phage Applications and Therapeutics. She is known for her work on HIV research and prevention programmes in Tijuana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antibiotic use in livestock</span> Use of antibiotics for any purpose in the husbandry of livestock

Antibiotic use in livestock is the use of antibiotics for any purpose in the husbandry of livestock, which includes treatment when ill (therapeutic), treatment of a group of animals when at least one is diagnosed with clinical infection (metaphylaxis), and preventative treatment (prophylaxis). Antibiotics are an important tool to treat animal as well as human disease, safeguard animal health and welfare, and support food safety. However, used irresponsibly, this may lead to antibiotic resistance which may impact human, animal and environmental health.

The Community for Open Antimicrobial Drug Discovery (CO-ADD) is a not-for-profit initiative created in 2015 reaching out to chemists in academia and research organisations who have compounds that were not designed as antibiotics and would not otherwise be screened for antimicrobial activity. These academic compounds are screened against a key panel of drug-resistant bacterial strains -superbugs. Multi-drug resistant microbes are a serious health treat, and exploration of novel chemical diversity is essential to find new antibiotics.

The Antibiotic Development to Advance Patient Treatment (ADAPT) Act was introduced in the U.S. Congress on December 12, 2013 by Representative Phil Gingrey of Georgia and fifty-two cosponsors. Responding to the lack of financial incentives for drug manufacturers to innovate new antibiotics and antifungals and the regulatory barriers to their doing so, it proposed an expedited pathway for testing drugs intended for diseases for which no cure yet existed. After it died in committee, a similar version of the Act was re-introduced by Representative John Shimkus of Illinois and his cosponsor Representative Gene Green of Texas. Though this Act likewise failed to make it out of committee, several of its provisions were codified in the 21st Century Cures Act, which was signed into law on December 13, 2016. These include the expedited testing pathway for new antibiotics and a similar provision for antimicrobial susceptibility tests.

Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator (CARB-X) is a global nonprofit partnership focused on supporting the development of new antibacterial products. Its mission is to strengthen the pipeline of vaccines, rapid diagnostics, antibiotics and non-traditional products to prevent, diagnose and treat life-threatening bacterial infections.

Kastus Technologies is an Irish multinational nanotechnology company which specialises in patented visible light activated, photocatalytic, antimicrobial coatings. The coatings prevent the growth of bacteria on the surface it has been applied to, such as ceramics, glass, and touchscreens, with no negative side effects for the end user. Founded in Dublin in 2014, Kastus’ antimicrobial coatings were in development for over 10 years as part of a collaboration with Dublin Institute of Technology and the Advanced Materials and Bio Engineering Research (AMBER) Centres.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) directly kills about 1,600 people each year in Australia. This is a currently serious threat to both humans and animals in the country. Antimicrobial resistance occurs when a microorganism evolves and gains the ability to become more resistant or completely resistant to the medicine that was previously used to treat it. Drug-resistant bacteria are increasingly difficult to treat, requiring replacement or higher-dose drugs that may be more expensive or more toxic. Resistance can develop through one of the three mechanisms: natural resistant ability in some types of microorganisms, a mutation in genes or receiving the resistance from another species. Antibodies appear naturally due to random mutations, or more often after gradual accumulation over time, and because of abuse of antibiotics. Multidrug-resistance, or MDR, are the microorganisms that are resistant to many types of antimicrobials. "Superbugs" is the term also used for multidrug-resistant microbes, or totally drug-resistant (TDR).

The Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists (SIDP) is a non-profit association of pharmacists and other allied health professionals who specialize in infectious diseases and antimicrobial stewardship. According to the Board of Pharmaceutical Specialties, clinical pharmacists specializing in infectious diseases are trained in the use of microbiology and pharmacology to develop, implement, and monitor drug regimens that incorporate the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of antimicrobials for patients.

Helen Boucher is Dean of Tufts University School of Medicine and Chief Academic Officer of Tufts Medicine, the parent health system for Tufts Medical Center in Boston. Prior to this, she served as Chief of the Division of Geographic Medicine and Infectious Diseases at Tufts Medical Center, a Professor of Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine, and Director of the Stuart B. Levy Center for Integrated Management of Antimicrobial Resistance at Tufts.

Alison Helen Holmes is a British infectious diseases specialist, who is a professor at Imperial College London and the University of Liverpool. Holmes serves as Director of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance and Consultant at Hammersmith Hospital. Holmes is on the Executive Committee of the International Society of Infectious Diseases, and she serves on a variety of World Health Organization (WHO) expert groups related to antimicrobial use, Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), infection prevention and sepsis. Her research considers how to mitigate antimicrobial resistance.

The Centre for Genomic Pathogen Surveillance is a computational genomics research institute in Oxfordshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fabimycin</span> Antibiotic

Fabimycin is an newly developed antibiotic candidate which is effective against gram-negative bacterias, an unusually problematic class of bacteria that uses thicker cell walls and molecular efflux pumps to protect themselves by preventing the antibiotics reaching inside the cells.

Joakim Larsson is a Swedish researcher primarily known for his studies on pharmaceuticals and antibiotic resistance in the environment. Since 2012, Larsson is a professor of environmental pharmacology at the Department of Infectious Diseases within the Institute of Biomedicine at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg.

References

  1. ↑ "Kevin Outterson | School of Law". www.bu.edu. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
  2. ↑ "KEVIN OUTTERSON, ESQ". Carb-X. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
  3. ↑ "Overview". Carb-X. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
  4. ↑ "Funding Partners". Carb-X. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
  5. ↑ "CARB-X". May 19, 2022.
  6. ↑ "G7 Health Ministers' Communiqué" (PDF). G7 Germany. May 20, 2022.
  7. ↑ G7 Hiroshima Leaders’ Communiqué (PDF). G7 Japan. May 20, 2023.
  8. ↑ G7 Nagasaki Health Ministers’ Communiqué (PDF). G7 Japan. May 13, 2023.
  9. ↑ G20 Health Ministers' Outcome Document (PDF). G20 India. August 19, 2023.
  10. ↑ Call for actionable steps in response to the rising threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Multi-Stakeholder Partnership Platform. May 2024.
  11. 1 2 "Kevin Outterson | School of Law". www.bu.edu. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  12. ↑ "Boston University" (PDF). July 2015.
  13. ↑ "Kevin Outterson". Chatham House – International Affairs Think Tank. Retrieved 2022-08-24.


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