EU leaders back Danish antibiotics centre

A soon-to-be established research centre to combat antibiotic resistance has received backing from EU governments after getting the go-ahead from the World Bank.

Denmark’s minister for the environment and food, Jakob Ellemann-Jensen, presented the initiative to the European Commission and other countries on 28 January. On 25 January, Denmark signed up to the JPIAMR call on diagnostics and surveillance. The JPIAMR is a global research effort to develop more effective antibiotics and strategies to manage resistance.

“The reactions were very positive,” Ellemann-Jensen said after the meeting in Brussels. “There was widespread interest in this centre. But of course we need to learn more about where the money should come from.”