A Gold Coast scientist who headed up the team that developed the world's first anti-flu drug says the threat of infectious diseases is growing.

The Institute for Glycomics at Griffith University has been studying the rate of emerging diseases and the impact of climate change on the spread of tropical disease.

Professor Mark von Itzstein says more drugs are needed to combat the threat.

"We're so far behind now that a lot of infectious disease, we just simply have run out of weaponry," he said.

"There are multi drug-resistant strains of TB, for example, and we don't have any drugs at all to treat dengue.

"That is not a good state to be in."