The World Is running Out Of Antibiotics, WHO Says
Too few new antibiotics are under development to combat the threat of multidrug-resistant infections, according to a new World Health Organization report published Tuesday.
Adding to the concern: It is likely that the speed of increasing resistance will outpace the slow drug development process.
As of May, a total of 51 antibiotics and 11 biologicals — medical products often made from natural sources — are being developed, the new report said.
“The idea is that biologicals could replace use of antibiotics, which could help in overcoming the resistance problem,” Peter Beyer, an author of the report and senior adviser to the WHO’s Department of Essential Medicines and Health Products, wrote in an email.
Seemingly, this large number of potential new drugs should suffice, yet it is not nearly enough. First, just 33 of the antibiotics in the pipeline target priority pathogens.
This year, the WHO published a list of a dozen “priority pathogens”: 12 separate families of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that pose the greatest threat to human health.
