Saving Antibiotic Drug Development

Back Bay’s Vice President, Peter Bak, was interviewed for an article on antibiotic development and the challenges of evolving resistance and stalled commercial interest.

As big pharma abandons antibiotic drug development, and we hurtle toward a “post-antibiotic era, in which medicine can no longer treat common infections,” there is still hope.

Antibacterial innovation is accelerating through new channels, like the Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership, philanthropies like the Wellcome Trust and CARB-X, small biotechs like Achaogen, academic centers of excellence, and collaborations like Roche‘s partnership with Forge Therapeutics.

In other antibiotic development news, STAT reports that big drug makers announced a $1 billion for-profit venture to acquire or invest in small antibiotic companies and their nascent products.

Saving Antibiotics: it will take more than science to keep these life-saving drugs from becoming treatments of the past.