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COVER STORY
Article and interviews by EPM editor Reece Armstrong.
I
n April this year, as the Covid-19 pandemic continued to dominate headlines across global media channels, the World Health Organisation (WHO) published its latest annual review evaluating the current clinical and preclinical pipelines for antibacterial candidates. Conclusions from the report were stark, with WHO assistant director general on antimicrobial resistance (AMR), Dr Hanan Balkhy, saying that AMR is being fuelled by “the persistent failure to develop, manufacture, and distribute effective new antibiotics.”
The silent
pandemic
A month prior, The Pew Trusts in the US updated its findings on the global pipeline of antibiotics and the conclusions were similar. With 43 antibiotics in clinical development - with some inevitably failing to win approval – it’s obvious that there are too few therapies in development to tackle the growing threat of AMR. Of particular concern is how the larger pharmaceutical companies have completely taken themselves out of the picture when it comes to antibiotics. The Pew Trusts’ report says that of the 38 companies currently developing antibiotics, only two are classed as being among the top 50 pharma companies when it comes to commercial sales.
WHY IT’S TIME TO SPEAK UP ABOUT THE THREAT OF ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE.
In 2016, AstraZeneca sold its antibiotics division to Pfizer in a deal worth over $500 million, so it could focus on its three main therapy areas of respiratory & autoimmunity, cardiovascular & metabolic diseases, and oncology. Since then, the likes of Novartis, Sanofi and Allergen have exited the space to focus on disease areas which offer a better return on investment (ROI).
