Apr 9, 2020
Professor and N. Neal Pike Scholar in Health and Disability Law
at Boston University discusses viruses and the role of bacteria in
viral pandemics.
By tuning in, you will discover:
Over the past 15 years, Kevin Outterson has become increasingly
interested in researching the market for antibiotics. Initially, he
wanted to understand why patents weren’t incentivizing highly
effective antibiotics in the same way as other high-priced drugs in
the system.
About four years ago, he started working in a different yet related
capacity in supporting the small companies that conduct potentially
groundbreaking research on antibiotics that can effectively treat
what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and World
Health Organization (WHO) consider the biggest bacterial risks to
human health.
Outterson currently serves as the executive director of Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator (CARB-X), which is a company that is focused on combating bacterial superbugs through novel technologies leading to cures, diagnostics, and prevention against bacterial infection.
Outterson reminds listeners that many of those who have passed away from the coronavirus fell ill to secondary bacterial pneumonia, and that each year 33,000 people die from drug-resistant bacterial infections. In light of this, he emphasizes the need to attack disease transmission on multiple levels.
He discusses the cleanliness and safety of even the best
hospitals in the country, and what needs to be done in order to
limit infection. Outterson also mentions a few of the most common
sources of bacterial infection, as well as one that was seen
primarily in veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan who had been
injured in explosive events.
He explains the difference between viruses and bacteria, the ways
in which a person’s immune system can be suppressed (making them
more susceptible to infection), how phage therapy works, and so
much more.