Recipients will be chosen by an advisory panel made up of drug company executives, scientists and other experts in the field. “Antibiotics are the mortar that holds the entire health care system together,” said David A. Ricks, the chief executive of Eli Lilly, who helped spearhead the effort. The crisis stems from the peculiar economics and biochemical quirks of drugs that kill bacteria and fungi. The more often antimicrobial drugs are used, the more likely they are to lose their efficacy as pathogens survive and mutate. “A fund like this can really help us get through that valley of death,” Mr. Zimmerman said.

Source: International New York Times July 09, 2020 19:30 UTC