Appendix A
Statement of Task
To generate new thinking about developing effective antibiotics in the future, two brainstorming workshops (one on possible new classes of antibiotics; another on immune modulation) will be organized to bring experts in microbial infections and drug development together with specialists in other areas of the biological sciences, such as cell biology, immunology, genomics, and biophysics. The workshop participants will consider how the latest biological information, technology, and research approaches can be brought to bear on the development of new classes of antibiotics and immunomodulators.
The scientific issues raised during discussion in each workshop will be captured in two short consensus reports. The reports will describe the most promising biological targets for further research and development as well as higher-risk, high-reward approaches. The reports will suggest different avenues that should be pursued in the short and long term to speed the development of new antimicrobial or immunomodulator therapies.
