Drug companies are taking steps to address the growing threat of drug-resistant bacteria, but these actions are still in early phases, according to an analysis from the nonprofit group Access to Medicine Foundation.
For the analysis, researchers looked at the 30 most active drugmakers in antimicrobial development and production, including multinational drug companies, biotechs and generic drug manufacturers. Researchers assessed the following areas for each company: research and development practices for new antimicrobials; policies for ensuring conscientious antibiotic manufacturing; and approaches to ensure antimicrobials are widely accessible and responsibly used.
Here are three takeaways from the analysis.
- Drug companies are working to limit or fight antibiotic resistance via the following methods.
- Developing new antibiotics
- Separating sales representatives' bonuses from the volume of antibiotics they sell
- Implementing limits for antibiotic concentrations in factory wastewater
- Tracking the spread of superbugs
- GlaxoSmithKline and Johnson & Johnson were leading the way in the fight against antibiotic resistance among large research-based drugmakers, with Mylan and Entasis taking the helm among generic drugmakers and biotechs, respectively.
- However, many under-recognized problems exist in the drug industry that fuel antibiotic resistance, such as the pollution caused by mass antibiotic production.
"There's definitely more that all companies can do," said AMI Executive Director Jayasree Iyer, according to Reuters. "We need to strengthen the research and development pipeline — and when new products reach the market we need to ensure that they are used in a conservative way, so that misuse and overuse is limited."