Antibiotic Resistance Is Not Theoretical: It’s Here and Getting Worse

Doctors around the world are increasingly seeing patients with antibiotic-resistant infections, but the task of finding effective treatments to keep up with rapidly evolving superbugs is made more difficult by the economic challenges facing pharmaceutical companies seeking to develop new antibiotics.

Dr. Manica Balasegaram serves as executive director of the Global Antibiotic Research & Development Partnership (GARDP), a not-for-profit organization based in Geneva focused on developing new treatments to counter the emergence of dangerous drug-resistant bacteria. Over the course of his career, he has focused on clinical and public health practices in infectious diseases.

Balasegaram recently spoke with Pew about GARDP’s work to stabilize and revitalize the antibiotic pipeline, the challenges antibiotic developers face, and what lessons can be applied from the COVID-19 pandemic to efforts to combat the superbugs that are increasingly resistant to antibiotics. This interview has been edited for clarity and length.