Incentivizing Pharma Companies to Develop Lifesaving Drugs

James S. Lewis, PharmD, FIDSA, Co-Director of Antibiotic Stewardship, Oregon Health and Science University, shares different proposals shared in the health care community to incentivize pharmaceutical companies to develop needed drugs. Dr. Lewis warns that although antibiotic stewardship efforts are helping to slow down resistance, they will not be able to stop it from happening. With bacteria continually gaining resistance to available drugs, newer agents are desperately needed. In addition, Dr. Lewis also explains why susceptibility testing should be developed in parallel to new drugs that are being tested and developed.