“Yet as the problem has grown, the pharmaceutical industry has retreated from trying to create new antibiotics. “It’s just too expensive for them,” Kinch says. “In the 1950s, for the equivalent of a billion dollars in today’s money, you could develop about ninety drugs. Today, for the same money, you can develop on average just one-third of a drug. Pharmaceutical patents last only for twenty years, but that includes the period of clinical trials. Manufacturers usually have just five years of exclusive patent protection.” In consequence, all but two of the eighteen largest pharmaceutical companies in the world have given up the search for new antibiotics. People take antibiotics for only a week or two. Much better to focus on drugs like statins or antidepressants that people can take more or less indefinitely. “No sane company will develop the next antibiotic,” Kinch says. Bryson, Bill (2019-10-14T23:58:59). The Body . Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. Bryson, Bill (2019-10-14T23:58:59). The Body . Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. ”