The Uncertain Future of Antibiotics

Guest: David Shlaes, Member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership, Author of "Antibiotics, The Perfect Storm" and "The Drug Makers" An alarming new report from the UN says that in another 30 years, there could be 10 million people around the world dying every year from bacterial infections that are resistant to antibiotics. In other words, we’re in desperate need of new antibiotics to fight bacteria that have adapted to outsmart the current crop of drugs. So you’d think companies would see dollar signs in that and be racing to discover new ones. But they’re not, because the market for antibiotics is broken.