US and EU members of the Transatlantic Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance (TATFAR) are organising a workshopco-sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the European Commission’s Directorate General for Research and Innovation on 28-29 September 2011 in Brussels.

The aim is to identify factors negatively impacting the development, approval, introduction and appropriate use of new diagnostic tools for invasive bacterial infections in both inpatient and outpatient settings.

The workshop will also address the role of diagnostic tools in the development of novel antibacterials and the challenges in the development of companion diagnostics by drug developers. The outcomes of the workshop should be the identification of existing barriers and possible solutions in the following areas:

    Factors limiting the development and use of contemporary diagnostic tools
    Identification of key partners that need to join the effort to advance diagnostics into clinical practice
    The role of improved diagnostic tests in enhancing clinical development of novel antimicrobials

Workshop website