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A global health emergency is well underway \u2014 and we\u2019re dangerously unprepared to contain it.<\/p>\n
Drug-resistant infections are outsmarting our medical defenses, opening a widening gap between rapidly evolving superbugs and a dwindling antibiotic pipeline \u2014 a gap that puts millions of lives at risk.<\/p>\n
Roughly one in six bacterial infections<\/a> is now resistant to antibiotics. And a major analysis published in The Lancet estimates that antibiotic resistance will contribute to nearly 170 million deaths worldwide<\/a> within the next 25 years.<\/p>\n We know how to reverse this trajectory: by developing new antimicrobials. Yet experts warn that research and development in the field is sorely lacking. Of the 90 antibiotics in development in 2024, just five are effective<\/a> against one of the World Health Organization\u2019s \u201ccritical priority\u201d pathogens \u2014 which cause the hardest-to-treat infections. The need to kickstart innovation has never been more urgent.<\/p>\n Antimicrobial resistance occurs when dangerous microbes \u2014 like bacteria and fungi \u2014 stop responding to the medicines we have to treat them. Antibiotics revolutionized medicine, saving lives by treating infections. Without effective ones, routine procedures like knee surgery and cesarean sections would pose deadly risks. Drug-resistant bacteria already claim more than a million lives each year worldwide.<\/p>\n This growing crisis alarms me not only as a health care policy professional but as a patient and as a citizen. This health crisis comes with serious national security risks. A lack of antibiotics will leave us terrifyingly vulnerable to biological threats and more. And like pandemics and natural disasters, it will harm service members as well as civilians.<\/p>\n I\u2019m concerned that we are not doing enough to address this crisis, but I do recognize the challenges that got us here. We\u2019re losing to superbugs in part due to the way antibiotics work, and how that affects the economics of drug development.<\/p>\n Every time an antimicrobial drug is used to kill an infection, the surviving microbes have an opportunity to mutate and adapt, making them more resistant the next time. That means that an antibiotic\u2019s effectiveness diminishes with use. As such, antibiotics have to be used judiciously.<\/p>\n This prudent approach mitigates resistance. But it also means that the market for antibiotics is tiny despite their enormous value in terms of saving lives. Companies that try to develop new ones find it hard to break even. That\u2019s not surprising, given that developing just one antibiotic can take over a decade and cost upward of $1 billion. To put it bluntly, one estimate found that the return on investment for developing an antibiotic is negative $50 million<\/a>. The odds are stacked against developers.<\/p>\n As a result of these dynamics, many large biopharmaceutical companies have dropped out of antibiotic development. Small biotechs are still working at the challenge, but most are fighting to stay afloat. A handful of antibiotics from startups have received FDA approval since 2017. Since then, nearly every company has either gone bankrupt, abandoned antibiotics research, or been forced to sell.<\/p>\n This market collapse is especially troubling given the immense value antibiotics provide. Researchers estimate that developing new antibiotics and improving access to them would save the U.S. health care system $97 billion per year by 2050.<\/p>\n In short, we need to establish a new model for antibiotics that gives drug developers the financial assurance they need to carry these treatments across the finish line. A bipartisan group of U.S. legislators has proposed exactly that in the Pasteur Act<\/a> recently reintroduced in Congress.<\/p>\n The bill would create a subscription-style model between the federal government and companies that successfully develop novel antimicrobials for the most threatening infections. Health care professionals would get access to those treatments, while the companies would receive a predictable return \u2014 rather than struggling to depend on revenue that\u2019s based on the number of antimicrobial doses sold. Most importantly, patients would get access to lifesaving drugs for the most threatening infections.<\/p>\n If lawmakers don\u2019t pass the Pasteur Act soon, they will put our economy, our national security, and countless lives in danger.<\/p>\n With this pressing legislation now on the table, lawmakers have an opportunity to finally ensure America is prepared for the health crisis of antimicrobial resistance \u2014 before inaction makes the consequences irreversible.<\/p>\n Phyllis Arthur is executive vice president and head of health care policy and programs at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization.<\/p>\n Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n