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by geertj 3835 days ago
I'm hoping new antibiotics like Teixobactin get to market quickly.

That said multiple comments have been made here on HN on how there are no incentives for the pharmaceutical industry to bring a new antibiotic to market. It would likely be prescribed as a last effort antibiotic, with a very low volume.
2 comments
giarc 3835 days ago
Correct, antibiotic stewardship is basically holding back prescribing rights for last line drugs like linezolid, daptomycin etc, and rightfully so. If you're a drug company producing the newest drug, and you know that for anyone to use it they are going to need an pharmacy or ID consult to get it approved, you can view this as a barrier to adoption.
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gozur88 3835 days ago
The problem is this is kind of a catch-22 for drug companies. If they only release a new antibiotic in IV form, meaning it will only be administered at hospitals, they don't get enough volume to make money. So why research the next one?

In general I'm a pretty free-market guy, but this is one area I'd like to see the government more involved, both in subsidizing new antibiotic development and in making sure we have a stock of antibiotics that still work.

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