The State of Innovation in Antibacterial Therapeutics

Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO)
February 2022

This report investigates recent investment into antibacterial innovation and the current clinical pipeline that will help bridge the gaps in the antibacterial armamentarium. In our previously published research, drug development investment for many common chronic diseases was found to be declining and low relative to total healthcare burden on society. In that survey of under-funded disease areas, antibiotic investment was also found to be low and not trending upward with the rest of the industry. Unfortunately,
over the same time period the total number of infections has risen along with more reports of antibiotic resistance. The lack of investor interest can be seen by contrasting venture investment into antibiotics vs. cancer over the last decade (Figure 9). Oncology companies raised close to $7 billion in 2020 (up 900% from 2011), whereas antibiotic companies raised just $0.16 billion (less than what they raised 10 years prior). This prompted the ongoing investigation to expand our analysis beyond privately funded companies. Specifically, we investigate funding industry-wide and determine to what extent this weakness in funding has impacted innovative antibacterial drug candidates.

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