[Hawthorn]

>> bacteria evolve extremely rapidly, faster than the markets produce newer drugs <<

Yeah, but I submit that new drugs would be developed much faster if we didn’t have such a stupid regulatory regime at the FDA, and if we could have reasonable reforms of the tort laws.

[kroll]

stupid regulatory regime at the FDA

It is stupid no doubt and also a bit behind the times. Take the example of the Bacteriophages that I was talking about - these are viruses which normally exist EVERYWHERE in nature and feed on bacteria. Since they are viruses, they evolve faster than the bacteria that they eat. Before penicillin was discovered, Phages were one of the treatments being considered for treatment of bacterial infections but they required a lot more understanding than what we did then (but do now). Unfortunately because they evolve so rapidly naturally, the FDA would treat each new strain of Phages as a new drug requiring an entire set of Phase - I-III trials. The FDA's regulatory regime is not prepared to compete with nature at the moment. Though its not a given that even with less regulation, antibiotics would work. Sometimes you actually need paradigm shifts.