Just as the COVID-19 pandemic started taking the world by storm, The World Health Organization (WHO)<\/a> and The Pew Charitable Trust (Pew) each released assessments of the global antibiotic pipeline. Both found there are still not enough antibacterial treatments in clinical development worldwide to fight the growing threat of drug-resistant bacterial infections.\u00a0<\/p>\n Developing new, innovative antibiotics is resource-intensive and scientifically difficult. And, when more antibiotics are used the less effective they become, hence new antibiotics are often held in reserve to help preserve their potency. This is good for public health, but results in relatively low potential sales volume, making it challenging for companies to recoup their investment. As a result, major pharmaceutical companies have backed away from antibiotic development. The remaining small companies struggle<\/a> to sustain<\/a> their operations \u2013 with many facing bankruptcy even after successfully bringing a new antibiotic to market<\/a>.\u00a0 <\/p>\n Almost all antibiotics in our arsenal today are based on discoveries from more than 35 years ago. And only about 1 in 4<\/a> candidates currently in the development pipeline represent the truly new types of drugs needed to overcome resistance. Even more problematic is that historical data suggest that many candidates will fail in clinical trials, with just a small fraction obtaining regulatory approval.<\/p>\n COVID-19 has so poignantly reminded us<\/a> that we need to build more resilient health systems that include access to effective antibiotics to better tackle future outbreaks. Antibiotic resistance is a looming public health crisis also requiring improved preparedness, including a robust clinical antibacterial development pipeline.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Pew and WHO ask the following of policymakers, pharmaceutical companies, research funders and antibiotic innovation stakeholders: <\/p>\n These efforts must be robust and sustained in order to stabilize and revitalize the broken antibiotic development pipeline and market. As the threat of antibiotic resistance continues to grow, novel antibiotics are needed urgently \u2013 now more than ever.\u00a0<\/p>\n The\u00a0WHO<\/a>\u00a0is committed to shaping the public health R&D priority setting agenda to combat antimicrobial resistance and will continue to review the\u00a0preclinical<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0clinical<\/a>\u00a0antibacterial pipeline on an annual basis as well as expanding to fungal pathogens of public health importance.<\/p>\n![\"Essential](\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/images\/default-source\/wpro\/countries\/viet-nam\/health-topics\/thuoc-thiet-yeu.jpg?sfvrsn=a0b4a101_34\")
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