It has been a big week on the antibiotics front. First, some
detail on what Astrazeneca thinks they are doing on antibiotics. I have no idea. In a teleconference with analysts, their CEO
stated that their goal for the infectious disease unit is “partnership” not
sale. But other news
statements seem to indicate that they are selling the business including
meropenem, a generic antibiotic that still sells well. I’m not sure if they are
talking about two separate deals, one for meropenem (sale) and one for their
pipeline (partnership) or what. Maybe
someone from AZ can sort this out for me and my readers. As I mentioned last
week, partnership will be complicated by the recent merger between Forest and Actavis. The future of this pipeline, in my view, is
essential to being able to treat at least some of the highly resistant
infections that we encounter with increasing frequency.
On top of this, Pfizer, a company
that abandoned antibiotics just a few years ago, continues to pursue AZ (who
seems to want to give up on antibiotics) and may now proceed to a hostile
takeover bid. History teaches us that when Pfizer wants something, in this case
protection from US corporate tax rates and an attractive AZ oncology pipeline,
nothing stops them from getting it – just ask Warner-Lambert. This is not going
to be good for research in general and it may devastate antibiotics research at
a time when we most need new antibiotics.
Along those lines, the WHO released
their report on antimicrobial resistance this week.
Their report emphasizes a number of things including resistance in TB,
HIV, malaria, influenza, and last but not least, ordinary bacterial pathogens.
The WHO notes especially the rising incidence of resistance in various world
regions. They caution that the pipeline
for dealing with resistant infections, especially those caused by Gram negative
pathogens, is relatively dry. A brief excerpt
from the report is shown below (click to enlarge).
So, here we are. We have a company
with a promising pipeline for the treatment of resistant Gram negative
infections, an impending public health calamity – especially in certain regions
of the world (including various areas of the US) caused by resistant
infections, and the company will either be taken over by one hostile to
antibiotics or the company itself may abandon some or all of its pipeline.
I’m waiting for a white knight –
Roche – are you still there? – to come along and pull us all out of this
mess. Apparently it is unlikely to be either
AZ or Pfizer!
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