Antibiotics Could See New Boosts From Medicare Rule, House Bill

US House looks to give BARDA more money for antibiotic development in next coronavirus relief bill, while Medicare broadens the types of antibiotics eligible for additional payments to include drugs approved under FDA's limited population antibiotic development pathway. But it's unclear whether the House funding can make it through the Senate and how meaningful the Medicare provision will be given few LPAD approvals.

Antibiotic resistant bacteria closeup biofilm
The House and Medicare are pushing new plans to help fight antibiotic resistance • Source: Shutterstock

The US House of Representatives wants to pour more money into the development of new antibiotics as part of Congress’s potential fourth coronavirus relief bill. At the same time, Medicare is proposing to make it easier for some hospital antibiotics to get higher reimbursement in the hopes it will stimulate more development of the drugs.

The House’s Heroes Act would give the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development authority an additional $500M to promote innovation in antibacterial research and development. And while the bill cleared the House on Friday, the Senate seems less likely to endorse another large relief package and provisions not directly tied to tackling the virus and its economic fall out may be more likely to get the ax

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