Drugmakers eye government money to combat antibiotic resistance

Political momentum to create a multibillion-dollar fund to reward developers of new antibiotics is growing in Washington. But it comes too late for Scynexis. With little demand so far for its new drug ibrexafungerp, the pharma company is scaling back promotion, seeking a new partner, exploring other applications, and cutting its workforce. Its product is just the latest in a series of antibiotics and other antimicrobials that have struggled to take off, alongside an even longer list of potential drugs that have not made it beyond the laboratory bench. A public health need for innovative treatments is increasingly being confronted by a reluctance to back products for fear they will be lossmaking.

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