Citeline’s Scrip extensively quoted AMR Action Fund CEO Henry Skinner in an article examining ongoing challenges in the antimicrobial market, including news that Iterum Therapeutics is seeking to wind down operations.
Antibiotics face a uniquely unfavorable risk‑return profile, Skinner said. “Like oncology, development is scientifically complex, expensive, and high‑risk. But unlike oncology, where success is rewarded by volume‑based sales, new antibiotics are intentionally used sparingly. That disconnect leaves little or no viable market downstream,” he explained…
“Approval is often where the hardest challenges begin,” Skinner told Scrip. “Antibiotic developers face substantial fixed costs after approval, including manufacturing, pharmacovigilance, resistance monitoring, and required post-approval studies, not to mention the direct cost of marketing and sales.”
The problems faced by antibiotic makers have prompted experts to highlight once again that until policymakers create incentives that appropriately value these medicines, capital will continue to flow toward areas where innovation is rewarded rather than penalized.
“Strategic partners and acquiring companies ultimately need confidence in long-term revenue predictability. It is very hard to build a compelling commercial case for antibiotics, even for approved products, given [these] factors,” Skinner said.
Read the full article here.