Pharmaceutical companies risk a backlash similar to the one experienced by the banks after the financial crisis if they fail to invest more in new antibiotics.

“If we get closer to 2050 and there are 10m people around the world dying [from drugresistant infections], guess who is going to be blamed?” The warning came as Jim O’Neill, head of a Government-backed commission looking into the problem of antimicrobial resistance, outlined a plan to revive antibiotic research and development.

Under the plan, the global pharmaceutical industry would set up a $2bn fund to “jumpstart a new innovation cycle in antibiotics” and in return would receive lump-sum, upfront payments from governments for successful new antibiotics once they have been proved effective.

The commission believes such an approach would remove the link between sales volume and profits, which encourages over-use and fuels resistance. Antibiotic resistance is thought to be responsible for an estimated 30,000 deaths a year across Europe.