Increasing instances of drug-resistant gonorrhea have sparked growing concerns among health experts, and now drugmakers GSK and Innoviva are inching closer to a new antibiotic solution, Bloomberg reported Aug. 10.
The key is for drugmakers to work with the intent of outpacing the spread of the drug-resistant strains of the infection to stay ahead of consequences, which could entail getting set "back to the pre-antibiotic era," Jeffrey Klausner, MD, a professor of medicine and public health at the University of Southern California told Bloomberg.
Gonorrhea specifically is more prone to becoming drug-resistant than other sexually transmitted infections because as cases have gone up in recent years after a long stretch of falling, "a rise in overall infections gives it more chances to adapt," according to Bloomberg.