Antibiotic market

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The antibiotic market faces significant challenges, particularly around motivating pharmaceutical companies to invest in developing new antibiotics. The issues stem from the lack of short-term profitability, as antibiotics are typically taken for short periods, making them less financially appealing compared to drugs required for chronic conditions. Additionally, there's the risk of antibiotics becoming obsolete as bacteria evolve resistance.

Experts have explored various strategies to address these market failures:

  1. Push and Pull Incentives: Companies might be incentivized through tax reductions (push incentives) or extended market exclusivity for new drugs (pull incentives) to encourage investment in antibiotic development despite the high risks and low immediate returns 1.

  2. Nationalizing Antibiotic Production: Some advocate treating antibiotics as public goods, similar to utilities like water or electricity, especially important in countries like the UK. However, this approach has faced criticism for potentially stifling innovation 2.

  3. Market Failures and Public Health: The broader market failures in public health necessitate government or philanthropic intervention to ensure the development of essential drugs like antibiotics, which are pivotal in fighting infections that could otherwise return us to the health standards of the early 20th century 3.

    Big Pharma's Ethical Mandate

    Dr. Matt explains the concept of push-and-pull incentives to entice pharmaceutical companies to invest in new antibiotics. He quotes a CEO who says that he has an ethical mandate to charge as much as possible for the antibiotics because he is accountable to shareholders and not to patients. The conversation delves into the difficulties of convincing big pharma to invest in antibiotics, which are not short-term profitable.

    The Jordan Harbinger Show

    222: Matt McCarthy | The Race to Stop a Superbug Epidemic
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These insights highlight the complex interplay between public health needs and market mechanisms in the antibiotic sector.

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