Research stalled

Adding to the myriad challenges facing health systems, research on antibiotic resistance has been strained since the pandemic, according to Jake Bennett, senior industry analyst for pharmaceuticals and healthcare at Fitch Solutions.

One way to combat antibiotic resistance is development of more drugs, but progress has been limited for some time. Of the 302 drugs the Food and Drug Administration approved from 2009 to 2017, only 5.3% were antibiotics.

Bennett said development of antibiotics isn’t as financially attractive to pharmaceutical companies because unlike drugs for chronic disease, they are only used for a short period of time.

And now during the pandemic, most attention has shifted to treatments for COVID-19.

“Clinical trials haven’t been able to progress at the same rate as they did because of things like people not being able to physically go to institutions to attend clinical trials (and) supply chain issues around drugs,” Bennett said.

Private institutions and government can help fund research on antibiotics to encourage pharmaceutical companies to get involved. For instance, the United Kingdom has a model that involves paying drugmakers upfront for developing antimicrobial drugs based on the value they will bring to the health system rather than how much they are used. The Trump administration recently released an action plan to address antibiotic resistance, but it makes no mention of this kind of funding option.

“There is a very strong consensus from the infectious disease and antimicrobial resistance stakeholder community that (this type of funding) is one of the biggest pieces we know needs to be done,” said Greg Frank, director of the coalition Working to Fight AMR.