All those antibiotic companies that are currently struggling with financial problems could find some solace in a new $1 billion fund that has been founded recently and one that has been backed by 20 drug makers including Merck & Co Inc and Pfizer Inc.
According to an industry group, this new fund will also help in sustaining a pipeline for new treatments that are also ailing for want of funding.
The group has identified a new trend in the market where hospitals have been adopting a more conservative approach toward treatment of microbes because of fears of drug-resistant microbes which has resulted in a shortage of investment and bankruptcies for a number of companies making antibiotic medicines and treatments even after the new drugs being developed by them get approval by various regulators.
In recent times, repeated alarms about a looming health crisis have been raised by public health authorities who have said that the threat of people dying because of antibiotic resistant bacteria could be much greater than the deaths being caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic.
So far an amount of $1 billion has been raise by the new fund that is led by the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations. The group however aims to help shore up investment in smaller biotech companies following the exit of the industry segment by a number of large drug manufacturers such as Sanofi SA.
The initiative “gives these biotechs access to the kinds of capabilities that large pharmaceutical companies have, such as manufacturing and regulatory,” said Silas Holland, head of external affairs for the fund and director of global public policy at Merck.
Holland said that the process of funding for companies that are engaged in developing promising novel antibiotics will be reviewed and recommended by an independent scientific panel. Bringing into the market two to four new antibiotics to patients within a decade is the goal of the group.
The fund further aims to serve as a temporary solution until new legislation can offer a more permanent fix.
“This is intended to help temporarily sustain this pipeline while policymakers put in place incentives,” Holland said.
(Source:www.reuters.com)
According to an industry group, this new fund will also help in sustaining a pipeline for new treatments that are also ailing for want of funding.
The group has identified a new trend in the market where hospitals have been adopting a more conservative approach toward treatment of microbes because of fears of drug-resistant microbes which has resulted in a shortage of investment and bankruptcies for a number of companies making antibiotic medicines and treatments even after the new drugs being developed by them get approval by various regulators.
In recent times, repeated alarms about a looming health crisis have been raised by public health authorities who have said that the threat of people dying because of antibiotic resistant bacteria could be much greater than the deaths being caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic.
So far an amount of $1 billion has been raise by the new fund that is led by the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations. The group however aims to help shore up investment in smaller biotech companies following the exit of the industry segment by a number of large drug manufacturers such as Sanofi SA.
The initiative “gives these biotechs access to the kinds of capabilities that large pharmaceutical companies have, such as manufacturing and regulatory,” said Silas Holland, head of external affairs for the fund and director of global public policy at Merck.
Holland said that the process of funding for companies that are engaged in developing promising novel antibiotics will be reviewed and recommended by an independent scientific panel. Bringing into the market two to four new antibiotics to patients within a decade is the goal of the group.
The fund further aims to serve as a temporary solution until new legislation can offer a more permanent fix.
“This is intended to help temporarily sustain this pipeline while policymakers put in place incentives,” Holland said.
(Source:www.reuters.com)
