A Better Way to Fund the Fight Against Superbugs
As resistance to antibiotics grows, England is launching a “subscription” program to pay for development of new medications, and the idea is starting to catch on elsewhere.
As bacteria become increasingly resistant to antibiotics, the pipeline of drugs to counter so-called superbugs has virtually dried up. Only a few dozen are in clinical trials even as infections impervious to existing treatments kill more than 1.2 million people a year. The problem is that the cost of developing an antibiotic can reach $1.5 billion, and drugmakers don’t see a sufficient payoff.
Three years after announcing a strategy to boost investment in antibiotics, England is poised to fund a pair of new drugs by offering companies a fixed annual fee regardless of how much—or how little—they’re used. The National Health Service plans to pay as much as £10 million ($12.6 million) a year, or £100 million over a decade, for each drug. A government advisory group in April concluded a review confirming the benefits of a pair of drugs from Pfizer Inc. and Shionogi & Co., paving the way for the NHS to finalize contracts with the companies. “There is an intention to move forward as quickly as possible,” says David Glover, assistant head of medicines analysis at the NHS.