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Getting hold of penicillin in 1943 was a lottery in America.
1943年，在美國想要獲得青霉素簡直就得碰運氣。
The "miracle drug" had been discovered 15 years earlier but production capacity was limited, and most went to the war effort.
這種“特效藥”早在15年前就被發現了，但生產力有限且大部分都投入了戰爭。
What remained was rationed, and a single injection cost at least $40 (about $600 in today's prices).
剩下的都是定量配給，注射一支青霉素至少要40美元（約為現在的600美元）。
By 1949 better manufacturing methods allowed the price to fall to 20 cents. The use of penicillin exploded.
到1949年，更好的生產方法讓價格降到了20美分。青霉素的使用激增。
Antibiotics subsequently became a staple of modern medicine. Massive volumes offset low margins. No longer.
隨后，抗生素變成了現代醫學的主要部分。巨大的銷量抵消了利潤率較低的影響。
Finding new molecules is getting harder, which means higher development costs.
發現新分子變得越來越難，這意味著開發成本更高了。
At the same time, growing awareness that overuse accelerates development of bacterial resistance to the drugs has led to "antibiotics stewardship",
與此同時，越來越多的人意識到了過渡使用抗生素加速了細菌對藥物的抗藥性，這就導致了“抗生素管理”，
the practice of using the newest antibiotics only for infections untreatable with older ones.
只用最新抗生素治療舊抗生素無法治愈的感染。
Volumes, in other words, are often disappointing. With returns from antibiotics down,
換而言之，銷量經常讓人失望。隨著抗生素回報下降，
big pharmaceutical companies have abandoned them for more lucrative drugs.
大型制藥公司為了更賺錢的藥物而放棄了它們。
GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer and Merck are the only three doing clinical research in the field.
葛蘭素史克、輝瑞和默克是該領域僅有的三家做臨床研究的公司。
Small biotechnology firms tried to pick up the slack. In the past ten years,
小型生物科技公司試圖彌補空白。在過去的十年里，
as the world began to panic about the rise of resistant superbugs, governments and charities provided early-stage financing.
世界開始對耐藥性超級細菌的崛起感到恐慌，政府和慈善機構提供了初期融資。
Like big pharma, though, the biotech startups have struggled to make money from antibiotics.
雖然和大型制藥公司一樣，生物科技創業公司也難以從抗生素中賺錢。
An American one, Achaogen, filed for bankruptcy on April 15th; plazomicin, a novel antibiotic it began selling in 2018,
4月15日，一家美國公司Achaogen申請破產；該公司在2018年開始銷售一種新型抗生素—plazomicin，
sold barely any doses in the first eight months. Melinta, another antibiotics startup, is restructuring.
頭八個月幾乎沒有賣出過任何劑量。另一家抗生素創業公司Melinta正在重組。
Share prices of similar firms have plunged, in some cases below their liquidation value.
類似公司的股價暴跌，一些甚至低于清算價值。
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