Clinical trial design and consequences for drug development for community-acquired pneumonia: an industry perspective

Antibiotic development has decreased significantly, in part because of recent changes in regulatory requirements in the United States. These changes both decrease the probability of technical and regulatory success for a new antibiotic for which marketing approval is sought and motivate the pharmaceutical industry to focus its research efforts on other therapeutic areas. There is a growing, unmet clinical need for new antibiotics, because of bacterial resistance to approved drugs; however, there are few candidates in development, especially new oral agents for treatment of community-acquired respiratory infections. The answers to important questions about the benefit of antibacterial treatment for community-acquired pneumonia and the publication of clear guidance for future clinical studies will support future investments. We discuss the underlying issues and offer some alternative strategies to enable improvements in clinical trial design for community-acquired pneumonia.