CEO’s thoughts on AMR and sepsis

Despite the gloomy start of this post, it ends on a note painted in the color of hope: green.

“Sepsis is the face of AMR … you die of sepsis; you don’t die of AMR,” said Simone Mancini from the Global Sepsis Alliance yesterday at the World Health Summit Side Event “Push, Pull, Partner — Building a Global AMR Incentive Ecosystem” in Berlin.

🦠 As many of you know, AMR stands for antimicrobial resistance, with antibiotic resistance being the most well-known form. It represents a growing global health challenge, but fortunately, it is also receiving increasing recognition — even if policy responses could be more robust.

What struck me in Simone Mancini’s presentation was how clearly the link between AMR and sepsis came through. While he didn’t state it as directly as I do now, the implication was clear: as resistance to antibiotics continues to rise, the number of people dying from sepsis is also likely to increase. When antibiotics can no longer control the bacterial infections that are the most common cause for sepsis, we risk seeing even more sepsis-related deaths in the future.

In more technical terms, Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Klebsiella pneumoniae are the leading drug-resistant gram-negative bacteria found in bloodstream infections, and they often lead to sepsis. According to the World Health Organization, resistant strains of these bacteria are increasing at a rate of 12–15% per year.

At Aptahem, we are doing our part to bring a new treatment for sepsis to the market. But as we all know, drug development takes time — and unfortunately, health challenges don’t wait for new therapies to be approved.

🤔 So, what can you do?

Battling AMR is a major challenge, largely driven by the industrial use of antibiotics in animal production — an industry that is notoriously difficult to change. But as Professor Michael Schloter highlighted in the opening presentation at the same event, there are things each of us can do.

His research showed that people who eat plant-based diets – vegetarians and vegans – have gut microbiomes with notably fewer antimicrobial resistance genes.

🥦 So here’s a simple, positive takeaway: if you want to reduce your risk of an AMR infection, you can do something very straightforward — eat more greens!

Links 👇

Recording of the event: https://www.youtube.com/live/3yTIhgdR7Tw?si=0OMSoljlsHm2bGmu&t=537

WHO report (chart on page xvi): https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240116337

Beautiful broccoli from Unsplash by Monika Borys