Though strides have been made in the antibiotic pipeline in the last few years, a review released in Clinical Infectious Diseases this week found that they are not enough to combat multidrug resistance.
The report is an update on progress made under the Infectious Diseases Society of America’s 10 x ’20 initiative, which aims to see U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of 10 new antibacterial agents by 2020. The report concluded that systemic changes are necessary if those efforts will amount to anything lasting.
“Unfortunately, if 20 x ’20 is achieved due to efforts embarked upon in decades past, it could mark the apex of antibiotic drug development for years to come,” the report said. “Without increased regulatory, governmental, industry, and scientific support and collaboration, durable solutions to the clinical, regulatory and economic problems posed by bacterial multidrug resistance will not be found.”
A major problem is innovation. Again, the pipeline has seen some gains in the last few years, but unfortunately, the report noted that most of these gains had been modifications, not unique approaches to the situation. Far too few treatment options remain available, even with increased funding.
The report also noted that small companies are the ones largely driving what changes have been seen. Their innovation, however, has not translated into profit, and many are struggling to stay afloat, even as larger pharmaceutical companies simply give up and leave the field entirely.
In order to move forward, the report also highlighted that the market needs improved oversight of existing drugs, increased regulation and collaboration, the enabling of complex surgeries through effective antibiotics, and additional incentives all factored into the assessment.