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Antibiotics and the Problem of the Broken Market

The world needs new antibiotics. Wesley Stephenson asks how to entice big pharmaceuticals back in to the market.

It is a life and death situation – the world is at its last line of defence against some pretty nasty bacteria and there are no new antibiotics. But it is not the science that’s the big problem, it is the economics. Despite the $40 billion market worldwide there is no money to be made in antibiotics so big pharmaceuticals have all but stopped their research. Why is this and how do we entice them back in? Wesley Stephenson finds out.

(Image: Computer artwork of bacteria. Credit: Science Photo Library)

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9 minutes

Last on

Mon 29 Feb 201614:50GMT
BBC World Service East Asia, East and Southern Africa, Europe and the Middle East, South Asia & West and Central Africa only

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  • Fri 26 Feb 201620:50GMT
    BBC World Service Online, Americas and the Caribbean, Europe and the Middle East & UK DAB/Freeview only
  • Fri 26 Feb 201621:50GMT
    BBC World Service East Asia, South Asia, West and Central Africa & Australasia only
  • Mon 29 Feb 201602:50GMT
    BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean
  • Mon 29 Feb 201603:50GMT
    BBC World Service Online, Europe and the Middle East, UK DAB/Freeview & East Asia only
  • Mon 29 Feb 201604:50GMT
    BBC World Service South Asia
  • Mon 29 Feb 201605:50GMT
    BBC World Service Australasia
  • Mon 29 Feb 201607:50GMT
    BBC World Service East and Southern Africa & Europe and the Middle East only
  • Mon 29 Feb 201613:50GMT
    BBC World Service Online & UK DAB/Freeview only
  • Mon 29 Feb 201614:50GMT
    BBC World Service East Asia, East and Southern Africa, Europe and the Middle East, South Asia & West and Central Africa only

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