Vital Health Podcast Henry Skinner: Fixing the Antibiotics Market & Confronting AMR
In this Vital Health Podcast, host Duane Schulthess - joined by Joe Hammang, Vital Transformation's US Business Director - speaks with Henry Skinner (CEO, AMR Action Fund), about the escalating threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and what it will take to rebuild a viable antibiotics pipeline.
The conversation follows the full story - from bedside to boardroom - covering why short-course, stewardship-constrained antibiotics are undervalued, how cancer patients shoulder disproportionate risk, and which practical incentives can bring capital and talent back into the field. Henry Skinner also details how the AMR Action Fund is investing roughly $1B in clinical-stage biotech while emphasizing that policy, diagnostics, and prevention must move in lockstep.
Key Topics
- The Antibiotics Market Problem: Short treatment durations, "break-glass" stewardship, and decade-long, high-cost development create a public-goods gap that markets alone will not solve.
- Oncology & Sepsis Under AMR: Cancer patients face higher rates of infection and drug-resistant infection, undermining gains from modern cancer care.
- Diagnostics Economics: Cultures and advanced molecular tests are underused due to cost and turnaround time, even though delays drive longer ICU stays and higher system costs.
- Rebuilding R&D: Big-pharma retreat, brain drain, and investor opportunity costs demand durable pull incentives to attract capital and expertise back to antibiotics.
- Prevention: Vaccination and prudent antibiotic use can reduce morbidity, resistance, and cost when the system properly values these tools.
Recorded July 1, 2025. Opinions expressed are those of the speakers.
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