Project Syndicate: Overcoming Market Obstacles to New Antibiotics
Jim O’Neill, commercial secretary to the U.K. Treasury, honorary professor at Manchester University, visiting research fellow at Bruegel, and chair of the Review on Antimicrobial Resistance

“…In the field of antibiotics development, … the divergence between profit-seeking behavior and the public good is taking the world to the brink of crisis. … In January, the pharmaceutical industry took a big step toward solving this problem when more than 100 companies and trade associations from more than 20 countries signed a declaration calling on governments to adopt a new model of antibiotic development. As part of this new model, the signatories committed themselves to provide access to new drugs for all those who need them, increase investment in R&D that meets global public health needs, and help slow the development of drug resistance in humans and animals. Governments should encourage and enable the industry to meet these objectives…” (4/28).