Credit: David Parkins Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an inevitable evolutionary process — resistance will occur, and it will spread globally. We are in a race to maintain a portfolio of effective antibiotics, and we are falling behind. Creating an antibiotic has become a daunting task. Development is long and expensive, yet antibiotics are used for short durations and sold at relatively low prices. Newly developed antibiotics are often also reserved for use as a last resort, to protect the drugs’ efficacy. This combination of factors makes it difficult for a company to recoup their investment, and has led to an exodus of organizations and scientific talent from antibiotic research and development. The pipeline of drugs has been reduced to a trickle, and deaths resulting from antibiotic resistance are increasing. To keep pace with AMR, the flawed economic model of antibiotic development must be addressed. Some governments and biopharmaceutical companies have already begun to do so.…