Roche Holding has dropped out of a project to develop antibiotics to treat superbug infections, like typhoid fever, tuberculosis and gonorrhea. This is a win for superbugs and a big loss for the medical community.
Suberbugs Have Fought A Great Fight
Superbug infections are known to adapt to antibiotic treatments quickly and efficiently, forcing doctors and pharmaceuticals to develop a stronger and more effective way of treating them. Roche has decided that the fight is no longer in the company’s best interest to keep fighting.
The company had agreed to pay Polyphor up to 500 million Swiss francs for rights to the new drug to treat superbug infections, but the company has revealed that they will leave the battle to Polyphor. According to the statement, Roche decided that a streamlined development path, which was the initial plan, is no longer feasible for the company.
Superbug Infections Kill Hundreds of Thousands Every Year
Infections like typhoid, resistant to many drugs, tuberculosis and gonorrhea have remarkable antibiotic resistance, so this is a huge setback to the medical community. Infections like these sadly call for continuous research, testing and releasing of new drugs, since they adapt so quickly.
Roche maintains that antimicrobal resistance is a worldwide threat to the public, and that it will continue to focus on them in their infectious disease research and development strategy, but it looks like the superbugs have beat them at their own game. At least for now, Roche is leaving the new antibiotic, which is in phase II clinical trials, to Polyphor.
