"During her tenure as director general of the World Health Organization, Dr Margaret Chan used to say that all of the easy antibiotics had already been found. Her point was that in responding to the urgent threat of antibiotic-resistant infections, we would struggle to find new medicines or preserve the ones we have if we didn't find new ways of working."
"Since 2017, just 16 antibiotics have gained widespread regulatory approval mostly close relatives of medicines already in use and so unlikely to evade resistance for long. The development of new ones is a slow and unprofitable business, curative medicines being less lucrative than ones treating longer-term conditions. And the scientific outlook remains bleak. Nevertheless, the announcement this month of two new US Food and Drug Administration-approved antibiotics against gonorrhoea is good news and, crucially, validates a new way of incentivising research."
Most easy antibiotics have already been discovered, making new antibiotic discovery scientifically difficult and commercially unattractive. Since 2017 only 16 antibiotics have gained widespread approval, mostly close relatives unlikely to evade resistance. Development of novel antibiotics is slow and unprofitable because curative medicines yield less return than chronic therapies. Two new FDA-approved antibiotics for gonorrhoea demonstrate the value of alternative incentives. Zoliflodacin emerged from a GARDP–Innoviva partnership with funding and trial support to lower costs and regulatory barriers. Subscription-style revenue guarantees and upfront noncommercial support help steer industry toward global priority needs.
#antibiotic-resistance #drug-development-incentives #public-private-partnership #gonorrhoea-treatment
Read at www.theguardian.com
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