The Superbug is rising: where are the new antibiotics?

According to Alan Westwood, chief executive of Matoke, a company hoping to develop a new form of antibiotic, the issue of antibiotic resistance is one of the most troubling issues of our times. It is one of the biggest threats to human health. In 30 years, it’s estimated 10 million people will die annually from infections impervious to what have been the most powerful weapons in our pharmaceutical arsenal. This is more than the combined number of people dying today from cancer and diabetes. Superbugs bacteria which are resistant to all known antibiotics are evolving fast as uncontrolled sale and misuse of antibiotics are creating resistance rates as high as 20 per cent for some infections. It is an emerging crisis on a global scale. So, you would think that pharmaceutical companies the world over must be racing to find new antibiotics and pouring billions into research.