New Antibiotic Development for Pulmonary Infections: New Drugs for Bad Bugs and Beyond

An article by Dr. Tomislav Kostyanev (University of Antwerp, and member of COMBACTE’s LAB-Net team), Prof. Dr. Marc Bonten (Scientific Coordinator COMBACTE, UMC Utrecht), and Prof. Dr. Herman Goossens (Workpackage lead LAB-Net, Management Board Member COMBACTE-NET, University of Antwerp) called ‘New Antibiotic Development for Pulmonary Infections: New Drugs for Bad Bugs and Beyond‘ was published in the ‘Anti-infectives and the Lung’ Handbook. The handbook, called ERS Monograph, is the quarterly book series from the European Respiratory Society (ERS).

Antimicrobial resistance has been recognised as a public health threat on a global scale, causing at least 700, 000 death cases every year, which is predicted to increase to 10 million deaths per year in 2050 if no measures to contain antimicrobial resistance are taken.

This rapidly spreading menace has made many antibiotics obsolete, which, together with the slow pace of clinical development of new antibacterials, has nearly desiccated the antibiotic pipeline, leaving fewer treatment options for many infections, including LRTIs. The few recently approved antibiotics and molecules in the final stages of clinical development could potentially be the light at the end of the tunnel for the treatment of LRTIs. Concerted action is needed to effectively confront antimicrobial resistance and deliver novel strategies for the treatment of infections caused by MDR bacteria. A multidisciplinary network, such as that created under the New Drugs for Bad Bugs programme, would play a crucial role in improving the efficiency of anti-infective trials.