Resistance to antimicrobials is a serious and growing problem in the treatment of infectious diseases.
In fact, for some bacterial pathogens, since there are no good antibiotic options, we are effectively returning to the pre-antibiotic era in the treatment of infections. This is happening at a time when there has been an explosion of new information about the basic biology of pathogens and how a host responds to infection. We're using this information to develop medicines and technologies that combat serious bacterial and viral infections.
At Genentech we're focused on exploring new antibacterial targets, antiviral targets and new mechanisms for killing pathogens, as well as new ways to deliver therapeutics to the site of infection that are both more efficient at pathogen elimination and less toxic to the host. In addition, our research efforts are focused on ways of combatting resistance mechanisms to existing drugs.