Why It Is Important To Continue Antibacterial Drug Discovery Combating resistance, improving safety, and preserving R&D teams are among reasons for persevering

A ntibiotic resistance is a fact of life that we must accept and confront. Consequently, modern pharmaceutical companies have faced repeated crises when new forms of antibiotic resistance emerged in previously susceptible pathogens. In each of these crises, the industry has rallied to bring forward new therapeutic approaches. During the past 30 years, I have been directly involved in several of these efforts as the pharmaceutical industry responded to emerging medical needs. I have also experienced the rise and wane of research efforts to meet those changing needs. We must hope that the current impending crisis of multidrug-resistant, or pan-resistant, pathogenic bacteria will serve as yet another impetus for allocating additional resources toward the discovery and development of new antibacterial agents. Pharmaceutical companies have been creative in their efforts to combat pathogenic organisms responsible for worldwide morbidity and mortality, but sometimes the companies have fallen short. Despite these continuing efforts, antibiotic resistance continues to increase. Not only do bacteria possess the uncanny ability to thrive under pressure from natural antibiotics in diverse natural environments, but they must also endure the added insults from both broad-spectrum and targeted pharmaceutical agents. Hence, resistance has become a growing menace to a world that expects to have effective drugs available for every disease. This expectation is no longer being fully met by the marketed anti-infective agents. Therefore, resistance remains an important driving force for antibiotic drug discovery efforts.