There already too many super bug drug resistant and survive all antibiotics.
https://www.theguardian.com/society...new-antibiotics-has-fallen-sharply-since-2000
Number of new antibiotics has fallen sharply since 2000
Report says drugmakers need to do much more to tackle rise of superbugs
Julia Kollewe
Tue 23 Jan 2018 14.01 GMT Last modified on Tue 23 Jan 2018 14.20 GMT
The number of new antibiotics being developed has fallen sharply since 2000 and drugmakers need to do much more to tackle the rise of superbugs, according to a report.
Britain’s biggest pharmaceutical company, GlaxoSmithKline, and US rival Johnson & Johnson are leading efforts to combat antibiotic resistance, according to the report to be presented at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
The Guardian view on antibiotics: don’t keep taking the tablets | Editorial
Read more
The Netherlands-based Access to Medicine Foundation assessed 30 of the world’s biggest drugmakers, including pharma companies, biotech firms and generic drugmakers and is the first independent report on the industry’s efforts to address drug-resistant infections.
Overprescription of antibiotics, along with their overuse in animals, has caused growing drug resistance in humans with serious health implications – leading to the rise of superbugs such as MRSA that cannot be treated with existing antibiotics.
England’s chief medical officer has repeatedly warned that antibiotic resistance could spell the “end of modern medicine” – caesarean sections and cancer treatments would become very risky without the drugs used to fight infection.
In Europe, an estimated 25,000 people die every year from antibiotic-resistant bacteria. In the US, at least 2m illnesses and 23,000 deaths a year can be attributed to antibiotic resistance, according to the foundation’s report.
New antibiotics are urgently needed, yet there is little incentive for drugmakers to develop them as they will be tightly controlled once they reach the market to limit the risk of resistance emerging.
The number of new antibacterial drugs approved in the US dropped from 33 between 1985 and 1999 to 13 between 2000 and 2014.
Jayasree Iyer, the head of the foundation, said: “If we don’t use antibiotics in the right doses or for the right bugs, we risk giving bacteria a chance to adapt and strengthen their defences, which will make it harder to kill them the next time. The threat that once-deadly infections could again become life-threatening is intensifying.
“Pharmaceutical companies have a critical contribution to make to the effort to tackle superbugs.”
She pointed to the “huge power of generics companies to stop the superbugs”. These companies produce the most antibiotics and some have only recently started tackling antibiotic resistance. “If they can be encouraged to really step up, we will see a big impact.”
The report notes that fungal infections now cause more deaths than malaria or tuberculosis. There is resistance to almost all fungi, including candida, a yeast infection that has been spreading in the US.
Only one in five infectious disease drugs that enter clinical testing are generally approved for patients. Data from the World Health Organization shows there are just 51 drugs in clinical testing in priority areas.
Pneumonia gets the most attention, where Pfizer is running the largest number of projects, followed by other respiratory infections including tuberculosis, where J&J is taking a lead.
Iyer said: “There are important new medicines in the pipeline – but it is widely accepted that there are not enough to replace the ones that no longer work.”
Overall, GSK has the largest antimicrobial pipeline (55 projects), including 13 vaccines, while Britain’s second-biggest pharma firm, AstraZeneca, has pulled out of antibiotics research and sold its assets to Pfizer.
GSK is also one of only two companies, along with Shionogi of Japan, to fully separate staff bonuses from the volume of antibiotics sold. Pfizer and Novartis have begun taking similar steps.
https://www.theguardian.com/society...new-antibiotics-has-fallen-sharply-since-2000
Number of new antibiotics has fallen sharply since 2000
Report says drugmakers need to do much more to tackle rise of superbugs
Julia Kollewe
Tue 23 Jan 2018 14.01 GMT Last modified on Tue 23 Jan 2018 14.20 GMT
The number of new antibiotics being developed has fallen sharply since 2000 and drugmakers need to do much more to tackle the rise of superbugs, according to a report.
Britain’s biggest pharmaceutical company, GlaxoSmithKline, and US rival Johnson & Johnson are leading efforts to combat antibiotic resistance, according to the report to be presented at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
The Guardian view on antibiotics: don’t keep taking the tablets | Editorial
Read more
The Netherlands-based Access to Medicine Foundation assessed 30 of the world’s biggest drugmakers, including pharma companies, biotech firms and generic drugmakers and is the first independent report on the industry’s efforts to address drug-resistant infections.
Overprescription of antibiotics, along with their overuse in animals, has caused growing drug resistance in humans with serious health implications – leading to the rise of superbugs such as MRSA that cannot be treated with existing antibiotics.
England’s chief medical officer has repeatedly warned that antibiotic resistance could spell the “end of modern medicine” – caesarean sections and cancer treatments would become very risky without the drugs used to fight infection.
In Europe, an estimated 25,000 people die every year from antibiotic-resistant bacteria. In the US, at least 2m illnesses and 23,000 deaths a year can be attributed to antibiotic resistance, according to the foundation’s report.
New antibiotics are urgently needed, yet there is little incentive for drugmakers to develop them as they will be tightly controlled once they reach the market to limit the risk of resistance emerging.
The number of new antibacterial drugs approved in the US dropped from 33 between 1985 and 1999 to 13 between 2000 and 2014.
Jayasree Iyer, the head of the foundation, said: “If we don’t use antibiotics in the right doses or for the right bugs, we risk giving bacteria a chance to adapt and strengthen their defences, which will make it harder to kill them the next time. The threat that once-deadly infections could again become life-threatening is intensifying.
“Pharmaceutical companies have a critical contribution to make to the effort to tackle superbugs.”
She pointed to the “huge power of generics companies to stop the superbugs”. These companies produce the most antibiotics and some have only recently started tackling antibiotic resistance. “If they can be encouraged to really step up, we will see a big impact.”
The report notes that fungal infections now cause more deaths than malaria or tuberculosis. There is resistance to almost all fungi, including candida, a yeast infection that has been spreading in the US.
Only one in five infectious disease drugs that enter clinical testing are generally approved for patients. Data from the World Health Organization shows there are just 51 drugs in clinical testing in priority areas.
Pneumonia gets the most attention, where Pfizer is running the largest number of projects, followed by other respiratory infections including tuberculosis, where J&J is taking a lead.
Iyer said: “There are important new medicines in the pipeline – but it is widely accepted that there are not enough to replace the ones that no longer work.”
Overall, GSK has the largest antimicrobial pipeline (55 projects), including 13 vaccines, while Britain’s second-biggest pharma firm, AstraZeneca, has pulled out of antibiotics research and sold its assets to Pfizer.
GSK is also one of only two companies, along with Shionogi of Japan, to fully separate staff bonuses from the volume of antibiotics sold. Pfizer and Novartis have begun taking similar steps.
