Merck Pulls Recarbrio From the U.S. Market, Leaving No Late-Stage Antibacterial Programs
- Merck is discontinuing Recarbrio, its reserve-use antibiotic combination, in the U.S. as part of a portfolio review, and says the move is unrelated to safety or quality.
- Approved seven years ago for hospital-acquired pneumonia and complicated urinary and abdominal infections with few options, it leaves Merck with only mature antibiotics and, per trade reports, no antibacterial programs in Phase II or later.
💡 Points
Reserve antibiotics are meant to be used sparingly, which caps sales, and a big pharma walking away from one confirms the broken economics of anti-infective launches. Small biotechs will read this as a warning, and policymakers will cite it in the case for pull incentives. The open question is whether Merck out-licenses the product or simply sunsets it.
Merck discontinues a crucial antibiotic despite concerns over superbug resistance ↗