Economic reform can save antibiotic innovation

"Antibiotic development is long and expensive, yet antibiotics are used for short durations and sold at relatively low prices. Newly developed antibiotics are often also reserved for use as a last resort, to protect the drugs' efficacy. This combination of factors makes it difficult for a company to recoup their investment, and has led to an exodus of organizations and scientific talent from antibiotic research and development. The pipeline of drugs has been reduced to a trickle, and deaths resulting from antibiotic resistance are increasing."

"Governments can help to remove economic barriers in two ways. The first is by funding the development of antibiotics. Known as a push incentive, the aim is to reduce the cost of research and development for companies. One example is the Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator (CARB-X), funded by governments and non-governmental organizations. CARB-X provides funding to companies and institutions during the early, high-risk stages of antibiotic development, and has helped to progress several drug candidates into clinical trials."

"The US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) provides push incentives that support development all the way through to drug approval, and in some cases beyond. And the AMR Action Fund, mostly sponsored by"

Antimicrobial resistance will continue to evolve and spread globally, requiring a sustained pipeline of effective antibiotics. Antibiotic development is long and expensive, while antibiotics are typically used for short durations and priced relatively low. Many new antibiotics are also held back for last-resort use, limiting sales and making it hard for companies to recover research and development costs. This economic mismatch has contributed to reduced investment, talent leaving antibiotic research and development, and increasing deaths from antibiotic resistance. Governments can address these barriers through push incentives that fund early and later development stages, and pull incentives that reward successful products and improve market returns. Examples include CARB-X, BARDA, and the AMR Action Fund.

Read at Nature