From: The AHA News Now July 21, 2004

Report urges Congress to promote development of new antibiotics

The Infectious Diseases Society of America today released a report urging Congress and the administration to act quickly to reinvigorate investment in antibiotic research and development to avert "a looming public health crisis." While the number of drug-resistant infections continues to rise, the number of new antibiotics in the pipeline to treat these infections is drastically declining, IDS said, noting that a recent analysis found only five new antibiotics in the R&D pipeline out of more than 506 drugs in development. The report recommends establishing an independent Commission to Prioritize Antimicrobial Discovery, which would decide which infectious pathogens to target using legislative incentives and administrative solutions, and tax and other incentives to encourage antibiotics research and development. For more on the report, visit http://www.idsociety.org/.