During the ABACUS I project we found out that the distinction between antibiotics and other drugs can be challenging. This finding led to the idea of using the appearance of antibiotics to facilitate their identification and help efforts aimed at addressing inappropriate antibiotic use. An idea we will be exploring further in the ABACUS II project.
The four objectives of ABACUS II:
1. Explore the case for a harmonised physical appearance of antibiotics to improve their identification.
2. Explore the impact of and obstacles to a standardised physical appearance of antibiotics.
3. Study the economic burden of not adequately being able to identify antibiotics and the potential impact of introducing standardised designs.
4. Investigate the quality of antibiotics by testing for substandard and falsified antibiotics.

The ABACUS project is funded by the Wellcome Trust.