World 'precariously reliant' on handful of companies developing drugs to treat superbugs, report warns
Writing for the Telegraph, Anne Gulland covers the latest Antimicrobial Resistance Benchmark highlighting the reliance on just a handful of companies to develop new antibiotics.
The article begins with an overview of today's antibiotic market where large drugmakers have retreated from the antibiotics field and smaller biotech companies (SMEs) have gone bankrupt due to the poor financial rewards on offer.
The author then compares the findings of the 2020 AMR Benchmark to the WHO's latest research on current antibacterial pipelines:
The AMR Benchmark report echoes a warning from the World Health Organization last week that a lack of private investment and innovation in the development of new antibiotics is undermining efforts to combat drug-resistant infections.
It concludes with a quote from Phil Thomson, president of global affairs at GSK:
“It is good that the benchmark recognises our contribution, but as the report makes clear, more must be done and engagement and action from governments and other relevant stakeholders, as well as the private sector, is key.”