A recent breakthrough in the development of antibiotics is met with cautious optimism. For all the hype surrounding new medicines, humanity may be losing the battle against a more pressing foe – resistance.
Since 2017, only 16 antibiotics have gained widespread regulatory approval. The pipeline for new medicines is slow and unprofitable, as curative treatments are less lucrative than those targeting long-term conditions. It's a bleak outlook, but one that's been echoed by Dr Margaret Chan during her tenure as World Health Organization director general: "all the easy" antibiotics had already been found.
However, there's some encouraging news from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Two new antibiotics have been approved against gonorrhoea – Zoliflodacin being one of them. This innovative partnership between Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP) and pharmaceutical company Innoviva is a breath of fresh air.
The success of this collaboration demonstrates that new approaches to incentivising research can be successful. GARDP provided funding, organized clinical trials, and cleared regulatory hurdles, helping direct the industry towards areas of greatest global need. The UK government's "subscription model" also shows promise in guaranteeing revenue for companies investing in antibiotics.
But even this breakthrough is tempered by caution. Zoliflodacin targets a previously unexplored part of the bacteria, but scientists warn that resistance to it is inevitable. To maximize its effectiveness, the new antibiotic should be held in reserve and rationed to highly resistant infections only – an approach that's often difficult to implement in low-income settings.
The future looks grim for developing new antibiotics. Dr Chan correctly observed that surveying the living world for natural sources has had diminishing returns. The use of artificial intelligence and synthetic drugs holds promise, but it's a long shot. Chemically synthesizing molecules is notoriously challenging.
To stay ahead, international coordination is essential. Careful, measured use is crucial to preserving our advantage in the face of growing resistance. The scale of future breakthroughs will be tiny compared to the curative successes of the 20th century.
Since 2017, only 16 antibiotics have gained widespread regulatory approval. The pipeline for new medicines is slow and unprofitable, as curative treatments are less lucrative than those targeting long-term conditions. It's a bleak outlook, but one that's been echoed by Dr Margaret Chan during her tenure as World Health Organization director general: "all the easy" antibiotics had already been found.
However, there's some encouraging news from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Two new antibiotics have been approved against gonorrhoea – Zoliflodacin being one of them. This innovative partnership between Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP) and pharmaceutical company Innoviva is a breath of fresh air.
The success of this collaboration demonstrates that new approaches to incentivising research can be successful. GARDP provided funding, organized clinical trials, and cleared regulatory hurdles, helping direct the industry towards areas of greatest global need. The UK government's "subscription model" also shows promise in guaranteeing revenue for companies investing in antibiotics.
But even this breakthrough is tempered by caution. Zoliflodacin targets a previously unexplored part of the bacteria, but scientists warn that resistance to it is inevitable. To maximize its effectiveness, the new antibiotic should be held in reserve and rationed to highly resistant infections only – an approach that's often difficult to implement in low-income settings.
The future looks grim for developing new antibiotics. Dr Chan correctly observed that surveying the living world for natural sources has had diminishing returns. The use of artificial intelligence and synthetic drugs holds promise, but it's a long shot. Chemically synthesizing molecules is notoriously challenging.
To stay ahead, international coordination is essential. Careful, measured use is crucial to preserving our advantage in the face of growing resistance. The scale of future breakthroughs will be tiny compared to the curative successes of the 20th century.
and then u hear bout zoliflodacin & its like yay but then ur told resistance is inevitable lol its like the battle against bacteria will never end 
anyway, i feel like the pharmaceutical industry needs 2 change its whole perspective n focus more on making medicines for diseases that actually affect ppl rather than just profitin 
and there's a big profit motive against developing new ones 
already! And don't even get me started on the whole 'reservation' thing for highly resistant infections - it sounds like just another Band-Aid 
. All that hype around new antibiotics and we're still struggling because nobody wants to invest in the really hard stuff. It's a shame, 'cause I remember when you could just pop an antibiotic and be good as new 
. It's a big ask, but I think we need international coordination to tackle this problem. Can't just sit back and hope for the best anymore 
I mean, 16 new antibiotics in 8 years? That's pretty slow for a disease-ridden world 
. What's going on with the research pipeline? Is it just not profitable to develop curative meds anymore?
. It's cool that GARDP and Innoviva partnered up to make this happen. Maybe we need more collaborations like that to get the industry back on track? 
gotta wonder if we're putting too much faith in AI & synthetics to save us... human bodies can evolve so fast 
and it's not like we've been taking care of our planet 
, it's a huge step forward! But let's not get too carried away - we gotta think about the resistance thing too 
, it shows that when we work together as a team, we can achieve some amazing things! But, like Dr Chan said, we gotta find new ways to incentivize research 
.
. The pipeline is slow, and it's all about curative treatments... it's like, we're not even trying to stop the resistance yet? 
We need international coordination ASAP! 
. The fact that we need "reserved" antibiotics for super-resistant infections is crazy – like we haven't been here before 
. I mean, what's the deal with pharmaceuticals being more interested in long-term conditions than actual diseases? It's all about profit over people 
and then there's the issue of rationing meds in low-income settings 
. But at the same time, we gotta be realistic about resistance 
. We can't just wing it on this one 
, but let's not get our hopes up too high 
to keep pushing forward.
They say only 16 new antibiotics have gotten approval since 2017 and that pipeline is super slow. That's just not right. And this Zoliflodacin thingy, yeah it's a breakthrough, but we gotta be real, resistance is inevitable 
This whole thing is just so stressful and I'm worried about the future, especially in low-income settings where healthcare is already a struggle 
And those that do work have resistance built in already 
The whole world needs to get on board with coordinated effort, stat 
... rationing this new antibiotic Zoliflodacin might not be the most practical solution in low-income settings 
is it true that resistance is inevitablw no matter wut new medcine comes out 
! Zoliflodacin is like, a breath of fresh air in a world that's been struggling with super-resistant strains. The fact that it was made possible by a collab between GARDP and Innoviva shows that we can get stuff done when we work together 
, but seriously, how can we keep up with this superbug problem? the fact that only 16 new medicines have been approved since 2017 is just crazy 
. zoliflodacin might be a breath of fresh air, but we all know what happens when you create a new antibiotic – the microbes just figure out how to resist it 
. it's like, what's the point if we can't even use it effectively? 