The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) released today a report listing 395 new drugs designed to fight infections that are nearing the marketplace. Each of the drugs are either in clinical trials or under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
More than one-third of the drugs on the PhRMA list — 145 of 395 — are vaccines designed to prevent or treat diseases such as staph infections and pneumococcal infections. Another 96 drugs, about a quarter of those listed, are antivirals to treat viruses as hepatitis, herpes and influenza. The list does not include, however, 97 other drugs to treat HIV/AIDS that are in testing. Some 88 drugs listed are antibiotics or antibacterials for treating bacterial infections such as pneumonia and tuberculosis.
PhRMA says 18 of the new medicines or vaccines treat or prevent staph infections and sepsis. More than 94,000 people contracted Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections in 2005, with nearly 19,000 dying from MRSA during hospital stays, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Sepsis, a life-threatening illness, can occur when staph bacteria spread to the bloodstream. Sepsis has nearly doubled in the last 10 years, and is expected to kill 215,000 people in the U.S. this year.
Some of the drugs listed are designed to treat illnesses in the developing world. For example, six medicines and five vaccines for malaria are currently in development.
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