This Gordon Research Conference will bring together industry, academic and government leaders involved in the discovery and development of novel antibacterial agents. Antibacterial resistance has spread globally at an alarming rate, continues to increase, and presents a tremendous global health challenge. Multi-drug resistance has become commonplace in many disease-causing bacteria. Infections that were once easy to treat are becoming difficult, and in some cases, impossible to treat and people are suffering severe illness or dying as a consequence. There is an acute need for novel antibacterials to combat this growing resistance. Therapeutically, antibacterials are unique compared to most other classes of drugs, due to the fact that resistance eventually renders these agents less efficacious with continued use. New effective antibacterial agents and therapies will therefore be needed on a continuing basis. Unfortunately, this new generation of antibacterials has proven extremely difficult to discover and develop. The pipeline of new antibacterials is drying up, industry has been exiting the field, and regulatory issues have made it harder and more expensive to get approvals. Future progress in the discovery and development of efficacious antibacterials will require the intense collaboration of researchers from many disciplines in academia, and the biotech and pharma industries, as well as the involvement of policy makers and regulators. This Conference will focus on the problems that stand in the way of successful sustained antibacterial discovery and development, as well as the innovation necessary to deliver these much needed new drugs to patients.