Sanofi SA (ADR) (SNY), GlaxoSmithKline plc (ADR) (GSK), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): 5 Costliest Microbes in Financial History

Companies have had success in the past. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) fielded a rare antibiotic blockbuster in Levaquin in the last decade, which recorded sales of $1.6 billion in 2007. The company still researches infectious medicine, but has enjoyed much more success in oncology and anti-inflammatory diseases. The field is heating up, though. Novo Nordisk A/S (ADR) (NYSE:NVO) bought anti-infective therapy developer Xellia for $700 million this week. Talk about enthusiasm for market prospects.

Statistics also point to a huge opportunity. The World Health Organization estimates that there are 440,000 new cases of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis each year, which kills 150,000 people. That’s a mortality rate of 33% — much higher than the devastating Spanish Flu of 1918 — and it is only one instance of a resistant microbe. One study pegs the additional cost of contracting an infection from a resistant bacterium at between $18,000 and $30,000. That works out to about $35 billion per year in the United States alone.

Should an infectious microbe become completely resistant to current drugs, the next international pandemic could follow.

Phew! You can sleep like a baby tonight.

The article 5 Costliest Microbes in Financial History originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Maxx Chatsko has no position in any stocks mentioned. Check out his personal portfolio, his CAPS page, or follow him on Twitter @BlacknGoldFool to keep up with his writing on energy, bioprocessing, and emerging technologies.The Motley Fool recommends and owns shares of Johnson & Johnson.

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