Fig. 3

Commercialisation and first detection of resistant bacteria for some classes of antibiotics. Legend: Classes of antibiotics which disrupt the synthesis of the bacterial cell envelope are depicted in orange, those inhibiting the bacterial protein synthesis are depicted in blue, and those interfering with the metabolism of nucleic acids in bacteria are depicted in green. Empty boxes indicate molecules for which resistance has been documented prior to commercialisation. * Resistance to penicillin was observed by Fleming himself even prior to its widespread availability and commercialisation. ** Aminogylcosides: The first mutants resistant to streptomycin were reported as early as 1946, whereas its commercial introduction dates back to 1948 [113]. *** 5th generation cephalosporins: ceftaroline resistance was documented prior to its commercial introduction in 2010 [114]