Who: the development of new antibiotics is not optimistic

Translation and arrangement On January 17, 2020, the World Health Organization (who) said that the decline in private investment and the lack of innovation in the development of new antibiotics are weakening efforts to combat drug-resistant infections The World Health Organization has released two new reports focusing on antibiotics in clinical trials and preclinical research and development Figure: two new reports released by the World Health Organization - antibiotic clinical and preclinical research in 2019 The report found that research and development of antibiotics was mainly driven by small and medium-sized enterprises, as large pharmaceutical companies continued to withdraw from the field As a result, new antibiotics in development are inadequate The 60 products under development, including 50 kinds of antibiotics and 10 kinds of biological agents, have little effect compared with the existing treatment methods, while few new drugs are developed for the most critical resistant bacteria, namely Gram-negative bacteria Although some preclinical candidates in the early testing phase are more innovative, it will take years for them to be available to patients Who released a list of priority pathogens in 2017, including 12 bacteria, as well as tuberculosis These pathogens are resistant to most of the existing therapies and therefore pose an increasing risk to human health The list was developed by an independent panel of experts led by who to encourage the medical research community to develop innovative treatments for these resistant bacteria Of the 50 antibiotics currently in clinical trials, 32 are targeted at the priority pathogens listed by who, but most of the new drugs in development have limited effectiveness compared with existing antibiotics At the same time, there are only two kinds of Gram-negative bacteria that can resist multiple drug resistance At present, these bacteria spread rapidly and need to be urgently contained Gram negative bacteria, such as Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli, can cause serious and often fatal infections, posing a special threat to people with weak or underdeveloped immune systems, such as newborns, as well as the elderly, people undergoing hand surgery and cancer treatment The report emphasizes that the lack of research and development of New Delhi metallo beta lactamase 1 is particularly worrying Currently, there are only three kinds of antibiotics for this super pathogen in clinical research and development NDM-1 superbugs are resistant to a variety of antibiotics, including carbapenem, the last line of defense against drug-resistant bacterial infections At the same time, the prospect of new antimicrobial agents for the treatment of tuberculosis and diarrhea causing Clostridium difficile is good, and more than half of the drugs in clinical development meet all the innovative standards defined by who In contrast, antibiotics in pre clinical trials show more innovation and diversity, with 252 drugs currently targeting who's priority pathogens However, these products are still in the early stage of development and still need to prove their effectiveness and safety The most optimistic scenario is that two to five products will be available in about 10 years.