Antibiotic R&D: Resolving the Paradox between Unmet Medical Need and Commercial Incentive

Author: Leslie A. Pray, PhD 

Survey Questions

Please classify your organization.

What is your title?

Are antibiotics the primary research area for your organization?

About what percentage of your organization’s research or product development focus is dedicated to antibiotics?

When did your organization become involved in antibiotic research or product development?

Will your organization be increasing its involvement with antibiotic research or product development within the next 5 years?

Which of the following best describes your organization’s involvement with antibiotics?

If your organization is involved with antibiotic discovery, which of the following general discovery technologies and methodologies do you use?

Do you think target-based screening will yield greater returns (more leads) for antibiotic R&D in the future?

Do you think there is still a place in antibiotic R&D for whole-cell screening for inhibitors of bacterial growth?

Has your organization been involved, or will it be involved, in product launch?

How many antibiotics has your organization launched up to and including 2008?

How many antibiotics do you expect to launch before 2012?

Which of the following best describes your lead product?

Which of the following best describes the target of your lead product?

Which of the following best describes the delivery method of your lead product?

Which of the following best describes the intended population of your lead product?

Which of the following best describes the indication for your lead product?

Which of the following do you perceive as the greatest challenge to antibiotic development?

Are recent/ongoing developments at the FDA providing enough resolution that lack of regulatory clarity is no longer a disincentive to antibiotic R&D?

Antibiotic R&D has focused on multi-indication antibiotics. Do you predict more single-indication antibiotic R&D activity in the future?

If so, do you think increased single-indication antibiotic R&D will be mostly among smaller biopharmaceutical companies?

Do you think antibiotic R&D is too risky for new players?

Which of the following do you think creates the greatest bacterial threat/unmet medical need today?

Do you think we will start seeing significantly more deaths from non-treatable bacterial diseases?

What do you think of this statement: The need for new antibiotic usage policies and practices is greater than the need for novel antibiotics.