Economic and Scientific Challenges Demand Collaborative Approaches to Antibiotics

Let's Gang Up on Killer Bugs by Carl F. Nathan, Op-Ed Contributor.  The New York Times.  December 10, 2012.

Problems of financial viability confront antibiotics targeted toward one type of bacterium as well as those that are "broad spectrum."  Antibiotics also must deal with independent mutations of bacteria that make them more adept at evading antibiotics.  The author, the chairman of the department of microbiology and immunology at Weill Cornell Medical School, advocates an "open lab" style of doing science that deemphasizes secrecy.  He also advocates a new reward mechanism for drug discovery.