Public Distrust of Pharmaceutical Industry Could Harm Research and Development of Important Antibiotics

A recent article in Forbes argues that misplaced public distrust of the pharmaceutical industry could harm the research and development of important antibiotics. Entitled, "Pharma's Poor Reputation Doesn't Help in the Fight of Superbugs," the article examines the industry's reputation in light of the antibacterial resistance epidemic. As a background, an April report published by the World Health Organization stated that antibiotic resistance is an increasingly serious threat in every part of the world and a "problem so serious that it threatens the achievements of modern medicine." The report gets pretty gloomy: "A post-antibiotic era, in which common infections and minor injuries can kill, far from being an apocalyptic fantasy, is instead a very real possibility for the 21st century." Incentivizing Antibiotic R&D The New York Times expounded on the study. Their article, "The Rise of Antibiotic Resistance," outlined the problem and potential solutions. Two aspect of their analysis stuck out: (1) "The most urgent need is to minimize the overuse of antibiotics in medicine and agriculture, which accelerates the development of resistant strains." (2) "The pharmaceutical industry needs to be encouraged to develop new antibiotics to supplement those that are losing their effectiveness."  In essence, people are looking to pharmaceutical companies to develop antibiotics, but the need to limit overuse will result in very low sales. Thus, the industry needs incentives t...
Source: Policy and Medicine - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs