Towards new business models for R&D for novel antibiotics

• Published in: Drug resistance updates 2011-04, Vol.14 (2), p.88-94
• Main Authors: So, A.D, Gupta, N, Brahmachari, S.K, Chopra, I, Munos, B, Nathan, C, Outterson, K, Paccaud, J.P, Payne, D.J, Peeling, R.W, Spigelman, M, Weigelt, J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anti-Bacterial Agents - chemical synthesis; Anti-Bacterial Agents - therapeutic use; Antibiotics; Bacteria - pathogenicity; Bacterial Infections - drug therapy; Bacterial Infections - microbiology; Drug development; Drug Discovery; Drug Industry - economics; Drug Industry - organization & administration; Drug Resistance, Bacterial; Hematology, Oncology and Palliative Medicine; High-Throughput Screening Assays; Humans; Infectious Disease; Internationality; Investments - economics; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Neglected Diseases - drug therapy; Pandemics - prevention & control; Pharmaceutical innovation; Public-Private Sector Partnerships - economics; Resistance; Value chain
• ISSN: 1368-7646; 1532-2084; 1532-2084
• DOI: 10.1016/j.drup.2011.01.006

Abstract In the face of a growing global burden of resistance to existing antibiotics, a combination of scientific and economic challenges has posed significant barriers to the development of novel antibacterials over the past few decades. Yet the bottlenecks at each stage of the pharmaceutical value chain—from discovery to post-marketing—present opportunities to reengineer an innovation pipeline that has fallen short. The upstream hurdles to lead identification and optimization may be eased with greater multi-sectoral collaboration, a growing array of alternatives to high-throughput screening, and the application of open source approaches. Product development partnerships and South–South innovation platforms have shown promise in bolstering the R&D efforts to tackle neglected diseases. Strategies that delink product sales from the firms’ return on investment can help ensure that the twin goals of innovation and access are met. To effect these changes, both public and private sector stakeholders must show greater commitment to an R&D agenda that will address this problem, not only for industrialized countries but also globally.