It is expected that the global antibiotics market size will reach about USD 62.06 billion by the year 2026 as it expands at a CAGR of 4.0% from a report done by Grand View Research, Inc. This growth will be accelerated by the rising prevalence in infectious disease especially in developing regions like the Middle East and the Asia Pacific. There have been 9.2 million recorded deaths in 2015 as seen in the statistics provided by the WHO. Currently, there is still an increase in the disease burden as the antibiotic treatment is available to just one-third of those infected. Governments are also making efforts to help improve the market growth. Indiscriminate use of antibiotics is a reality and this may increase antibiotic resistance, leading to higher burden in the economy.
TRENDS FOR THE FUTURE
Due to the increase in resistance of certain infections to drugs, there have been current trends in the development of combinational formulations. Countries like India have developed multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis. MRSA infection has been quite difficult to treat using standard antibiotics like penicillin and cephalosporin. About four new antibiotics were approved by the US food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat certain bacterial infections.
INSIGHTS
Antibiotics are gradually reaching a tipping point due to the bankruptcy experienced by so many biotech companies. Little investment has been witnessed in this industry and this has led to a fragile manufacturing and supply chain. Public and private investments are needed to improve the production and distribution of these drugs. So many companies are committed towards finding better ways to ensure that their drugs are effective.
At The future of Healthcare, we want to empower innovative projects that can bring a real added value to the healthcare industry, as this team of French students, BactTail.
BacTail is an innovative alternative to antibiotics. This team of students is designing a tailor-made treatment against pathogenic bacteria. Using synthetic biology, they are tackling deadly infections which are major healthcare issues. Together, let’s fight antibiotic resistance!
Today, antibiotic resistance is causing more than 750Â 000 deaths every year and this will increase by a factor 10 by 2050. It has become a global healthcare issue that science has to tackle. While existing antibiotics are ineffective towards antibiotic resistant pathogens, the BacTail project offers an innovative solution. The project uses synthetic biology to create tailor-made engineered therapeutic bacteria which are inspired by bacteriophages, their natural predators. By using their characteristics, the engineered bacteria will target and specifically kill pathogens.
iGEM IONIS is presenting the BacTail project in the 2020 iGEM, International Synthetic Biology Competition. The team is composed of 10 engineering students with a variety of skills. It is divided into groups working on aspects such as Research & Development, Bioinformatics, Web Designing, Electronics, Financing or Communication.
This fall, they will challenge their project alongside teams from all over the world.
Do not hesitate to support iGEM Ionis on their crowdfunding campaign, they need you!
