2019年经济学人 抗生素生产商的困境(3)

 

Federal programmes like Medicare, which provides health care for the elderly,

联邦项目，比如为老年人提供健康医疗的Medicare，

often pay hospitals for antibiotics² as part of bundled payments for hospitalisation, not as reimbursement³ for a particular treatment, as in the case of cancer.

通常向医院支付抗生素的费用作为住院费用捆绑支付的一部分，而非某种特定治疗（如癌症）的补助。

Aleks Engel of Novo Holdings, another asset manager, cites this model as a perennial⁴ gripe among fellow investors⁵ in antibiotics.

另一名资产经理，Novo Holdings的亚历克斯·恩格尔把这种模式看做是抗生素投资者常年的抱怨。

Antibiotics which fall flat in the first few years can eventually become profitable,

在最初几年中反响平平的抗生素最终可以盈利，

notes Bibhash Mukhopadhyay of New Enterprise Associates,an American venture-capital firm.

美国风险投资公司New Enterprise Associates的Bibhash Mukhopadhyay说到。

Until tests pinpoint⁶ the specific bug⁷ causing an infection (which may take days),

直到测试确定了导致感染的某种病菌（可能需要几天时间），

doctors try several common antibiotics that usually work for the microbial culprit they suspect.

医生才会尝试其他抗生素，这些抗生素通常对那些疑似微生物元凶有效。

For example, when a first-line antibiotic¹ stops working for most cases of pneumonia⁸ caused by bacteria

例如，当一线抗生素对大多数细菌引起的肺炎不起作用时

that grow in hospital patients' breathing tubes, the third-line antibiotic starts selling briskly.

（这些细菌生长于住院病人的呼吸管中）第三线抗生素才开始销售火爆。

Many investors are too impatient to wait that long. Lacking other products on the market to turn a profit,

很多投资者都没耐心等那么久。由于市场上没有其他可盈利产品，

firms like Achaogen struggle to raise capital to cover their costs.

像Achaogen这样的公司难以筹集资本来支付他们的成本。

Higher prices might help, but the debate in America is about how to lower the cost of drugs, not raise it.

更高的价格可能有所帮助，但美国的争论是关于如何降低药品成本，而不是增加它的成本。

Even if new antibiotics were paid for separately,

即便新抗生素的费用另付，

many investors think that patients for drugs like plazomicin are too few to make these drugs commercially viable⁹ in the near term.

很多投资者认为服用plazomicin这样药物的病人太少了，所以短期内，这些药物不可能创造商业价值。

Making them profitable for firms will take ingenuity¹⁰.

让它们为公司盈利将需要独创性。

This week a UN commission mused¹¹ about granting large cash prizes for companies that create such drugs,

本周，一联合国委员会考虑为研发这种药物的公司提供大量现金奖项，

or paying them a subscription¹² that guarantees fixed¹³ revenues regardless of use.

或是向他们支付一笔资金以保证，无论使用与否，他们都能获得固定收益。

Given the x Prize and Netflix, these are at least familiar to venture capitalists.

鉴于x大奖和Netflix，这些至少对风险资本家来说并不陌生。

1 antibiotic   

adj.抗菌的；n.抗生素

参考例句：

• The doctor said that I should take some antibiotic.医生说我应该服些用抗生素。
• Antibiotic can be used against infection.抗菌素可以用来防止感染。

2 antibiotics   

n.（用作复数）抗生素；（用作单数）抗生物质的研究；抗生素，抗菌素( antibiotic的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the discovery of antibiotics in the 20th century 20世纪抗生素的发现
• The doctor gave me a prescription for antibiotics. 医生给我开了抗生素。

3 reimbursement   

n.偿还，退还

参考例句：

• He received reimbursement for his travel expenses.由于出差的花费他可以得到公司的补偿。
• Which forms do I need to complete for my travel reimbursement?我需要填什么表来报我的旅费？

4 perennial   

adj.终年的；长久的

参考例句：

• I wonder at her perennial youthfulness.我对她青春常驻感到惊讶。
• There's a perennial shortage of teachers with science qualifications.有理科教学资格的老师一直都很短缺。

5 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

6 pinpoint   

vt.准确地确定；用针标出…的精确位置

参考例句：

• It is difficult to pinpoint when water problems of the modern age began.很难准确地指出，现代用水的问题是什么时候出现的。
• I could pinpoint his precise location on a map.我能在地图上指明他的准确位置。

7 bug   

n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器

参考例句：

• There is a bug in the system.系统出了故障。
• The bird caught a bug on the fly.那鸟在飞行中捉住了一只昆虫。

8 pneumonia   

n.肺炎

参考例句：

• Cage was struck with pneumonia in her youth.凯奇年轻时得过肺炎。
• Pneumonia carried him off last week.肺炎上星期夺去了他的生命。

9 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

10 ingenuity   

n.别出心裁；善于发明创造

参考例句：

• The boy showed ingenuity in making toys.那个小男孩做玩具很有创造力。
• I admire your ingenuity and perseverance.我钦佩你的别出心裁和毅力。

11 mused   

v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事）

参考例句：

• \"I wonder if I shall ever see them again, \"he mused. “我不知道是否还可以再见到他们，”他沉思自问。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• \"Where are we going from here?\" mused one of Rutherford's guests. 卢瑟福的一位客人忍不住说道：‘我们这是在干什么？” 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史

12 subscription   

n.预订，预订费，亲笔签名，调配法，下标（处方）

参考例句：

• We paid a subscription of 5 pounds yearly.我们按年度缴纳5英镑的订阅费。
• Subscription selling bloomed splendidly.订阅销售量激增。

13 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。