meanwhile, says kevin outterson, hospitals have come unde increasingly intense cost pressure, made evense by the decrease in elective surgeries during covid. so, new antibiotics are too pricey, given cheaper alternatives. >> a course of treatment of a common g, might be $150 over an entire hospital stay. and for the most expensive antibiotic, it might be $8,000 to $10,000. >> reporter: ted schroeder's drug, xenleta, is actually just $1,000 a treatment, and even that's too much. >> so the economic problem really is a reimbursement problem. reporter: and three years ago? >> i don't think anyone anticipated that hospital margins would fall so low so quickly. >> reporter: final, tetraphase c.e.o. larry edwards, whose drug va is also $1,000 for a course of treatment. but his business was moribund. orhat can he say to do he asks, who tell him... >> "i had a patient that with an intra-abdominal infection, we gave them your drug. we saved their life." >> reporter: tetraphase sold itself in march to another small pharma firm, for a song: one-tenth its market value three years ago. now, before yo

that's what they're worth, says outterson. kevinncology drugs, cancer dor orphan drugs that are being priced at hundreds of thousands of dollars, even a couple above think of an antibihatwhen you saves the life of the person -- they're going to die from this infection. $10,000 is really a bargain. paul: and that's why pharma start ups are usually so attractive, says investoran richarrs. richard: there are a lot of drugs which make a lot of money at very high prices. paul: but, he says, invetoors have comealize new antibiotics can't be priced that high. richard: because the political system would be in an uproar, and the drug companies want nothing to do with that because of all the flak they're already taking for fighting th battles on other fronts. dr. boucher: because of the societal good of antibiotics, they feel like they can't charge more. paul: infectious dease specialist dr. helen boucher. dr. boucher: the reason that we've been told that big pharma has disengaged is be they're not making enough return on their investment, pl