Overcoming the Bottlenecks: Challenges and Solutions Before the Threshold of The Post-Antibiotic Era
Abstract
The worldwide threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has given rise to the necessity of new antibiotics. Nevertheless, there are severe economic, scientific and regulatory problems that are encountered in the development of new antibacterial agents. This study focuses on economic barriers to antibiotic development including the excessive cost of development (more than $1 billion) and insufficient returns on investment. The traditional market model that uses high sales volumes cannot be applicable to antibiotics because of low usage and stewardship policies. The paper suggests new economic models, e.g., prepayment and subscription models that would uncouple profits and the sales volume and offer stable revenue sources to the companies without overuse. In addition, the study proposes the implementation of market entry incentives of up to 1 billion dollars to help the companies bear the risk of investing in new antibiotics. The issue of the public-private partnerships and shared investments in helping small firms, which currently dominate most of the antibiotic innovations, is also discussed in the paper. Through the combination of these new economic and policy models, the paper presents a complete solution to jump-start antibiotic R&D, aligning the financial incentives to meet the goals of public health and making the fight against AMR sustainable.
How to Cite This Article
Mohammed F Hamdi, Othman Mueen Mohammed, Sameer A Awad, Najla Abbood Kamel (2026). Overcoming the Bottlenecks: Challenges and Solutions Before the Threshold of The Post-Antibiotic Era . International Journal of Biological and Biomedical Research (IJBBMR), 2(4), 53-64. DOI: https://doi.org/10.54660/IJBBR.2026.2.4.53-64