Number of drug candidates to fight superbugs shrinks significantly in past 5 years

The article highlights the report’s most impactful key findings, beginning with the shrinking antimicrobial pipeline. With the number of projects down by more than a third since the 2021 AMR Benchmark, the limited pool of candidates now carries higher stakes, raising questions about whether patients in underserved countries will ever gain access.

“The jury is still out,” the article quotes Claudia Martínez, Director of Research at the Access to Medicine Foundation. “We need to see these projects making it into people’s hands once they leave the pipeline.”

The article highlights another of the report’s key takeaways – that the pipeline is even thinner for children, who are more vulnerable to drug-resistant infections than adults and require specially-formulated versions of antimicrobial drugs.

Claudia says: “We do not have enough research and development happening for kids. There’s also a big delay from the moment a company obtains approval for the adult formulation until the point where it becomes available for children.”

The article notes that commercial incentives for paediatric antibiotics are smaller, and developing child-specific formulations often involves complex regulatory requirements and clinical trials.