Gottlieb Rolls Out Five-Year Plan to Combat Antibiotic Resistance On The Farm

FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) will stay busy over the next five years while doing its part in a new agency-wide strategy developed by FDA with the goal of combating antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in both veterinary and human medical settings.In the next three years, for instance, CVM will be making key steps to ensure that all antibiotics on the farm are being used judiciously and in accordance to the seven core principles established by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA).Under a new, 21-page action plan, which was developed to reflect FDA’s broader antimicrobial resistance strategy and released on Friday (Sept. 14), CVM has committed to making efforts between 2019 and 2021 to bring the remaining 5% of medically important antimicrobials approved for use in animals (including certain injectable drugs) under veterinary oversight, and also to formulating a strategy to ensure such drugs have an appropriately targeted duration for use.“FDA has determined that about 40% of approved medically important antimicrobial drugs used in the feed and water of food-producing animals include at least one indication that doesn’t have a defined duration of use,” said FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb on Friday. “That’s why the FDA is announcing today our plans to develop and implement a strategy to address this issue.”