Dear All:
We can’t say it too often … our current approach to buying antibiotics is broken in that it is tantamount to paying the firemen on a per-fire basis. We simply must change this!
Driving this change requires persistent effort on the part of many. Over the past few days we’ve had two welcome additions to the voices calling for new economic models for antibiotics.
First, the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy has released both a White Paper and a viewpoint paper in JAMA describing the elements of a Priority Antimicrobial Value and Entry (PAVE) Award proposal that could be a path for the diverse and complex US market to create such a model. PAVE combines a market entry reward with population-based payments from public and private payers that phase in over time.
Second, PBS Newshour is doing a Stopping Superbugs series in which their science and economic correspondents have collaborated to tell this story. The first three episodes are out:
2 Aug 2017: We are running out of effective antibiotics
3 Aug 2017: The financial barrier
4 Aug 2017: Is there an economic cure for the problem?
We have yet to turn any of this into concrete action, but steadily expanding the conversational echo chamber is a necessary prelude to such action. I’m looking forward to the rest of the PBS broadcasts, and then next up, I think, will be the output from DRIVE-AB in early September. Stay tuned!
All best wishes, –jr
John H. Rex, MD | Chief Medical Officer, F2G Ltd. | Chief Strategy Officer, CARB-X | Expert-in-Residence, Wellcome Trust. Follow me on Twitter: @JohnRex_NewAbx. See past newsletters and subscribe for the future: https://13.43.35.2/blog.html
Upcoming meetings of interest to the AMR community:
- 5-8 Sep 2017: ASM-ESCMID conference on antibiotic R&D, including the CARB-X + GARDP Antibiotic Bootcamp
- 13 Sep 2017 (DC): FDA-CDRH workshop on diagnostic devices for detecting antimicrobial susceptibility & resistance
- 4-8 Oct 2017 (San Diego): IDWeek
- 29 Oct-1 Nov 2017 (Santa Fe): Keystone Symposium – Antimicrobials and Resistance: Opportunities and Challenges
- 24-27 Nov 2017 (Taipei): 30th International Congress of Chemotherapy & Infection (ICC)
- 12-14 Feb 2018 (Baltimore): ASM Biothreats Conference
- 11-16 Mar 2018 (Ventura Beach): Gordon Research Conference on Antibacterial Discovery
- 21-24 Apr 2018 (Madrid): ECCMID
- 7-11 Jun 2018 (Atlanta): ASM Microbe
- 22-27 Jul 2018 (Bryant University, Smithfield, RI): Gordon Research Conference on Drug Resistance for Cancer, Infectious Disease and Agriculture
