"Without effective antibiotics, modern medical care is not possible. As resistance to our current agents increases, society needs to invest in new ones," Anders Ekblom, head of development at the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, writes in Times opinion piece. Ekblom welcomes policymakers' acknowledgement that "funding provisions and regulatory incentives" are necessary, but he writes that "another possible innovative solution, which has been established in law in the U.S. and the EU for more than 25 years" exists. "It is the Orphan Drug legislation, developed in the early 1980s to encourage companies to develop drugs for rare diseases," Ekblom writes.

"Inclusion of antibiotics to combat resistant strains in the orphan drug category, with some possible changes to adapt it for antibiotics specifically, would bring two immediate benefits. First, it would provide pharmaceutical companies with the incentive to re-enter a neglected area. Second, it would speed up the process in an area where time is of the essence," according to Ekblom. "Here is a fast, efficient and simple way to find effective drugs that could save patients around the world today and in the future" (12/31).

This article is republished with kind permission from our friends at The Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery of in-depth coverage of health policy developments, debates and discussions. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for Kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. 2009 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.