Antibiotic resistance: The threat is growing and the research is too slow

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria threatens our health, but only a few pharmaceutical companies are still trying to bring new drugs onto the market. And they are trying to restrict prescriptions.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria threatens our health, but only a few pharmaceutical companies are still trying to bring new drugs onto the market. And they are trying to restrict prescriptions.

In the past year, there have been many reports of large pharmaceutical companies increasingly withdrawing from antibiotics development. This is due to the fact that investment costs for research and development (R&D) are high, while the products generate little profit.

But there is also good news according to the Access to Medicine Foundation's report "Antimicrobial Resistance Benchmark" (AMRB 2020): some stubborn companies are sticking with this important research.

In their report, the Access to Medicine Foundation — which works to ensure that suitable drugs are available to affected patients worldwide — draws mixed conclusions. The threat posed by antibiotic resistance calls for much greater attention to the problem, while at the same time, some companies have stepped up their research efforts. The companies listed in the report currently have 138 drugs and active ingredients in the development pipeline.

Read more: Phages: Bacterial eaters from Georgia to ght antibiotic resistance

More could be done

Antibiotic resistance is still not being adequately addressed though. Approximately 700,000 people worldwide die from it every year.

Fortunately, some companies are expanding their efforts. Though relying only on them also carries risks.

"Antibiotics are still a main stay in human health," Jayasree K. Iyer, Director of the Access

Medicine Foundation told DW. "We need antibiotics, and we need vaccines, and we need them as fast as possible."

According to the AMRB 2020 report, the major pharmaceutical companies that are still developing novel antibiotics are GSK, Pfizer, Shionogi, Otsuka and Merck&Co.

Johnson & Johnson has confirmed to Norddeutscher Rund