Antimicrobials: resistant to pharma investment?
This article was originally published in Scrip
Executive Summary
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a spreading phenomenon that threatens to increase healthcare expenditure as previously treatable infections become significant sources of morbidity. Despite this looming crisis, the pipeline of antimicrobial drugs has dwindled greatly in recent years as low prices and the reservation of new products for later lines of therapy reduce the commercial return on investment in this area. In order to encourage pharmaceutical investment in the antimicrobial pipeline, significant commercial and regulatory barriers must be addressed. Governments must provide subsidies for the development of novel products, while regulators could ease the path to the market with the acceptance of smaller datasets and higher premiums for products addressing unmet needs.