Rienk Pypstra
Chief Medical Officer and Head of Infectious Diseases, tranScrip
Antibiotic development has become unattractive to many large pharmaceutical companies, leaving academics and smaller entrepreneurial companies to drive research and development.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) represents a significant and global threat to public health, making infections harder to treat, increasing disease spread and resulting in poor patient outcomes. Rienk Pypstra, Chief Medical Officer and Head of Infectious Diseases at tranScrip, explains: “More infections are becoming resistant to existing treatments. Hospitals and communities are seeing increased resistance in difficult-to-treat infections caused by gram-negative pathogens, creating significant burden on healthcare systems globally.”
The changing face of antibiotic development
Antibiotic development has become less attractive to large pharmaceutical companies due to high research and development costs, limited returns and complex regulatory and post-approval hurdles. “Working with antibiotics is different to other therapeutic areas because they target bacteria rather than human cells or receptors, meaning learning and progress from other disciplines cannot be transferred,” Pypstra continues. “We are now seeing more research being undertaken by academics and smaller entrepreneurial organisations, which are less experienced in drug development and may need guidance to navigate challenges in clinical development, secure funding and support commercial activity.”
Long-term investment is essential.
It’s time for policymakers to
address this on a global scale.
The need for expertise
tranScrip is a specialist pharmaceutical consultancy that partners with a range of clients, from dynamic startups and innovative biotechs to the top 50 pharmaceutical giants, providing strategic expertise, therapeutic experience and operational excellence across the entire product lifecycle.
“We have teams of highly experienced physicians and scientists together with regulatory, clinical and commercial experts supporting the earliest developmental stages in translational medicine, all the way to successful market launch and prescription,” says Pypstra. “Our mission is to enable clients to maximise the value of their products for the benefit of patients worldwide.”
AMR needs to be on the political agenda
While reports such as the O’Neill report underscore the urgent need for political and financial commitment, and various initiatives such as CARB-X, BARDA, HERA and AMRAF aim to address the funding gap, Pypstra stresses that efforts are still insufficient if we are to address the potentially catastrophic effects of AMR. “Long-term investment is essential. It’s time for policymakers to address this on a global scale,” he says.
Find out more: transcrip-group.com
