SuperbugsCongressional action urged to stimulate antibiotic development
A coalition of drug makers, infectious disease experts, and public health advocates on Wednesday called on U.S. lawmakers to pass measures that could “jumpstart” the development of critically needed antibiotics. In a letter sent to lawmakers in the Senate and the House of Representatives, stakeholders from large and small pharmaceutical companies and organizations asked Congress to “swiftly enact a package of incentives that would sustainably reinvigorate the pipeline of antibiotics while ensuring patient access and appropriate stewardship.”
A coalition of drug makers, infectious disease experts, and public health advocates on Wednesday called on U.S. lawmakers to pass measures that could “jumpstart” the development of critically needed antibiotics.
In a letter sent to lawmakers in the Senate and the House of Representatives, stakeholders from large and small pharmaceutical companies and organizations including the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the Pew Charitable Trusts, and Trust for America’s Health asked Congress to “swiftly enact a package of incentives that would sustainably reinvigorate the pipeline of antibiotics while ensuring patient access and appropriate stewardship.”
CIDRAP reports that the letter, which was addressed to the leaders of the Senate Finance Committee, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, the House Ways and Means Committee, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and the House Subcommittee on Health, says some of the incentives must be passed in 2019 to meet patient needs and “help mitigate a public health crisis.”
Calls for government action
The letter adds to the growing calls for government action to address antibiotic resistance, which is threatening many of the current antibiotics used to treat serious bacterial infections, and the dearth of new antibiotics. Of the 42 antibiotics currently in clinical development—a fraction of the 1,000-plus cancer drugs currently in development—only 11 target the pathogens on the World Health Organization’s list of priority pathogens. And perhaps only two of those candidates will make it market.
The main issue is the lack of economic incentive for making new antibiotics. Compared with medicines for chronic conditions, which patients may have to take for many years, antibiotics are used for a short period of time. In addition, since most current antibiotics still remain effective, new antibiotics are kept in reserve to prevent development of resistance. Because the current drug reimbursement system links profits to the volume of drugs sold, this means that pharmaceutical companies don’t get a significant return on their investment in new antibiotics.
