The global need for effective antibiotics: challenges and recent advances

The emerging problem of antibiotic resistance is a serious threat to global public health. The situation is aggravated by a substantial decline in the research and development of antibacterial agents. Hence, very few new antibacterial classes are brought to market when older classes lose their efficacy. There has been renewed and growing attention within policy groups to: (i) address the problem; (ii) discuss incentives for the development of urgently needed new treatments; (iii) preserve the efficacy of existing therapeutic options. We briefly review the basic principles of antibiotic resistance, and contrast the increasing resistance to the dwindling antibacterial ‘pipeline’. We also highlight some recent policy initiatives aiming to secure the future need of effective antibiotics.