Golden Age

Discovery Void (1970s-2000s)

Today

The 1940s to 1960s are known as the golden age of antibiotic discovery. Scientists extracted antibiotic natural products from fungi and bacteria, while also producing synthetic and semi-synthetic compounds in huge numbers. Yet even then, penicillin had to be modified due to resistances emerging, showing that microbes evolved faster than expected.

The initial flood of new antibiotic classes emerging from diverse natural sources led to their overuse and with it came resistance. As natural product scaffolds were seen as largely explored, the “low-hanging fruits harvested”, research on them receded, while chemical synthesis became the main driver of innovation.

Antibiotic innovation came to a halt. Only derivatives of already known classes reached the market, while no new ones appeared. Pharmaceutical companies turned to more profitable long-term drugs like antihypertensives, leaving short-course antibiotics at a disadvantage. With research abandoned, resistance continued to build, setting the stage for the global health crisis we face today - AMR, the silent pandemic.