The Golden Age of Antibiotics and How to Reignite It
2024-12-25
This article explores the "Golden Age of Antibiotics" (early 1940s-mid 1960s), a period of rapid antibiotic discovery. It explains the decline in antibiotic development since the 1970s due to pharmaceutical companies shifting focus to more profitable areas and the rise of antibiotic resistance. The article proposes strategies to revive antibiotic discovery, such as genome mining, exploring novel bacteria, and combination therapies. It highlights the crucial role of government and organizational funding and innovative collaborative models to incentivize the development of new antibiotics, crucial in the fight against drug-resistant infections.