I agree totally Eoin. Which is why (apart from my investing activities) trying to solve the problem takes much of my time. Two years ago we founded a charity (non-profit) named Antibiotic Research UK. (www.antibioticresearch.org.uk) to bring together national experts to find solutions. Just as we have the well-known charity Cancer Research UK, we now have Antibiotic Research UK. Why? Well, the predictions from the UK Government's AMR Review indicate that bacteria will soon be killing more people than cancer. The AMR review papers are worth reading at http://amr-review.org/ Lord Jim O'Neill was of course ex Chair of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, and he was able to call on all global experts when compiling his review conclusions. If his review is even half correct, the horrible truth is that a good percentage of readers of these words are likely to die eventually from bacterial infection.

I am a founding Trustee of Antibiotic Research UK and also chair of the Science and Technology Advisory Committee. You can see the other members on the website. It is a highly expert group. Some of my ideas on how to beat the resistance problem were published last year by the leading science publisher Nature (Antibiotic resistance breakers: can repurposed drugs fill the antibiotic discovery void? URL http://www.nature.com/nrd/journal/v14/n12/full/nrd4675.html. On request, I can send a pdf to any reader interested). We have raised a bit of money from donations from the public, and are now just beginning the experimental work to test the ideas. Initial results should be available by end 2016. 

Fingers crossed, as we need to save our antibiotics. This was brought home to me the hard way in March this year when my father died from antibiotic-resistant MRSA infection. 5 antibiotics failed to save him. Frankly, even with my expertise, if I had caught MRSA from him I could not be sure which antibiotics to choose to treat myself. The situation is getting serious very quickly. 

I am speaking at Markets Now on July 11, and I will use my hour for investment discussions, but if anyone wants to discuss antibiotic resistance in the bar afterwards I will be there. And if anyone has any good ideas, I will gladly buy them a drink!

Eoin Treacy's view

Thank you for sharing your expertise and please accept both my and the Collective’s condolences on the death of your father. Your presentations are always well received at the Markets Now events and I suspect more than a few will take you up on your offer to chat in the bar afterwards.