Pharmaceuticals scale back antibiotic research as profit margins bite

PHARMACEUTICAL companies like Wyeth are scaling back or ending research into antibiotics due to a lack of profit potential, even as infections are becoming more resistant to current treatments, microbiologists said.

Ten of the world’s top 15 pharmaceutical companies ceased funding, spun off or greatly curtailed research on antibiotics recently, Wyeth researcher Steven Projan told doctors at a meeting in Chicago.

Companies see little growth in the $24 billion antimicrobial market and are putting their money elsewhere, such as arthritis and mental illness, he said. Many infections are treated with cheap, generic antibiotics, making the market unappealing, Projan said.