Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy

On September 7th, Health Affairs published an Extending the Cure-sponsored study on policy options to combat antibiotic resistance. The study examines how the current health system is failing to limit antibiotic resistance and offers a radical policy solution to the problem: setting “effectiveness targets” for new drugs. These targets would encourage both development and responsible marketing of new antibiotics by tying goals for limiting resistance to financial incentives such as enhanced reimbursement or market exclusivity. Ramanan Laxminarayan, Director of Extending the Cure, discussed the implications of the research on the ETC blog, but the study has received some important attention elsewhere as well.