The profitability (or lack thereof) of creating antibiotics is impeding the development of these necessary drugs, according to a column published in The New York Times.
The column was authored by Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD, PhD, who is an oncologist and bioethicist as well as a professor, department chair and the vice president for global initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
According to Dr. Emanuel, developing new antibiotics to combat life-threatening bacteria and pathogens is of the utmost importance. Nevertheless, the relatively small profitability of antibiotics presents a major barrier.
"Unlike drugs for cholesterol or high blood pressure, or insulin for diabetes, which are taken every day for life, antibiotics tend to be given for a short time, a week or at most a few months. So profits have to be made on brief usage," wrote Dr. Emanuel. "Furthermore, any new antibiotics that might be developed to fight these drug-resistant bacteria are likely to be used very sparingly under highly controlled circumstances, to slow the development of resistant bacteria and extend their usefulness."
Despite there being completely valid reasons to use antibiotics sparingly, doing so limits the amounts that can be sold. Additionally, the price of antibiotics in the pharmaceutical marketplace pales in comparison to the prices of drugs for, say, cancer.
Congress attempted to address the problem in 2012 when it passed an act that expedited FDA reviews and gave companies more years of market exclusivity but, according to Dr. Emanuel, it has not done enough.
To encourage researchers and drug companies to invest and do more, Dr. Emanuel suggests the U.S. government offer prize money to companies and academic centers that develop and get regulatory approval for new antibiotics.
He argues the "prestige, bragging rights and renewed sense of mission created by such a prize would alone make an investment in research worthwhile."
More articles on antibiotics:
Physician competition, patient wealth and prescribing antibiotics: 5 things to know
How rivers contribute to rising antibiotic resistance
Obama administration seeks $1.2B to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria