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Antibiotics and the Problem of the Broken Market

The world needs new antibiotics. Wesley Stephenson asks how to entice big pharmaceuticals back in to the market.

It is a life and death situation – the world is at its last line of defence against some pretty nasty bacteria and there are no new antibiotics. But it is not the science that’s the big problem, it is the economics. Despite the $40 billion market worldwide there is no money to be made in antibiotics so big pharmaceuticals have all but stopped their research. Why is this and how do we entice them back in? Wesley Stephenson finds out.

(Image: Computer artwork of bacteria. Credit: Science Photo Library)

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9 minutes

Last on

Mon 29 Feb 2016 14:50GMT
BBC World Service East Asia, East and Southern Africa, Europe and the Middle East, South Asia & West and Central Africa only

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Broadcasts

  • Fri 26 Feb 2016 20:50GMT
    BBC World Service Online, Americas and the Caribbean, Europe and the Middle East & UK DAB/Freeview only
  • Fri 26 Feb 2016 21:50GMT
    BBC World Service East Asia, South Asia, West and Central Africa & Australasia only
  • Mon 29 Feb 2016 02:50GMT
    BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean
  • Mon 29 Feb 2016 03:50GMT
    BBC World Service Online, Europe and the Middle East, UK DAB/Freeview & East Asia only
  • Mon 29 Feb 2016 04:50GMT
    BBC World Service South Asia
  • Mon 29 Feb 2016 05:50GMT
    BBC World Service Australasia
  • Mon 29 Feb 2016 07:50GMT
    BBC World Service East and Southern Africa & Europe and the Middle East only
  • Mon 29 Feb 2016 13:50GMT
    BBC World Service Online & UK DAB/Freeview only
  • Mon 29 Feb 2016 14:50GMT
    BBC World Service East Asia, East and Southern Africa, Europe and the Middle East, South Asia & West and Central Africa only

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