Opinion: Wanted: better policies and incentives to revitalize R&D for new antimicrobial drugs

In the not-too-distant future that we could be facing — one with rampant, uncontrollable, multidrug-resistant microbes — a seemingly inconsequential infection could have the power to kill. Being admitted to a hospital may do more harm than good, as hospital-acquired infections become incurable. Modern medical procedures, such as organ transplants, chemotherapy, and even surgery, might no longer be possible.

For many patients and physicians, this future is already a reality.

If an individual in the U.S. is infected with a drug-resistant strain of Acinetobacter — a species of bacteria my company is working on that is widely found in hospitals and that has one of the highest rates of resistance to antibiotics — there is a 50% chance he or she will die. An alarming in the U.S. are drug-resistant; in other parts with reports of resistance even to drugs of last resort. The treatment for such infections is isolation — and hope.