Economic Incentives for Antibacterial Drug Development: Literature Review and Considerations From the Transatlantic Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance

The Trans-Atlantic Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance (TATFAR) in 2015 was tasked with exploring economic incentives for antibacterial drug development and providing recommendations for potential global implementation. Due to the continual decline of pharmaceutical companies investing in new antibiotic development and the rise in antimicrobial resistance, there is an urgent need to examine market mechanisms that are appropriate to encourage small, medium, and large companies to reinvest in this space. This review provides a summary of the various models that have been proposed and highlights positions posed by several policy documents, peer-reviewed publications, organization proposals, and government-sponsored reviews. The findings support a form of a de-linkage model and a combination of push and pull incentive mechanisms. This level of consensus could culminate in global coordination of incentives that strike a balance of rewarding innovation and ensuring appropriate antibiotic use.