Financial Times: Test new financial models for antibiotics
Editorial Board

“…A recent U.K.-led review has called for ‘delinkage’ of profit from the volumes of any new treatments prescribed. That will help access for the poor and reduce incentives for companies to promote overuse — triggering more rapid resistance. But such measures will do little without fresh incentives to boost the research needed to develop innovative drugs. The review calls for ‘push’ funding for early-stage research and ‘pull’ rewards of $1bn for any company launching a new antibiotic. … For now, richer governments provide most of the investment and incentives for new drug development, through academic research and the payment of higher drug prices to companies. Delinking research and pricing from patents may be a partial solution, but so far such alternative models remain largely untested. Antimicrobial resistance, a growing medical crisis which affects patients across the globe, is a good place to start exploring such innovative approaches before they are more widely applied. The next step is for politicians to move from the rhetoric of U.N. declarations to committing fresh funding for push and pull incentives” (9/18).

Washington Post: Losing antibiotics is a global threat
Editorial Board

“…Antimicrobial resistance is about more than human health. It also involves difficult questions that affect agriculture and the environment. The U.N. General Assembly, with heads of state present, seems like the right place to debate a more concerted and broad response. The session ought to impress world leaders on the need for better stewardship of antibiotics in human health and for farm animals; improved diagnostics to help determine when people really need them and when they don’t; better surveillance of infectious diseases; and methods to stimulate the discovery and development of new antibiotics for all. Later, it will be important to set targets for action and provide funding to track them. … [T]his is a real problem that affects everyone in the long run but is too easy to ignore today. If the United Nations meeting raises awareness about the risks of not taking action, it will be a worthwhile start” (9/18).