This is the timeline of modern antimicrobial (anti-infective) therapy.
The years show when a given drug was released onto the pharmaceutical
market. This is not a timeline of the development of the antibiotics themselves.
1911 – Arsphenamine a.k.a. Salvarsan[1]
1912 – Neosalvarsan
1935 – Prontosil (an oral precursor to sulfanilamide), the first sulfonamide
1936 – Sulfanilamide
1938 – Sulfapyridine (M&B 693)
1939 – sulfacetamide
1940 – sulfamethizole
1942 – benzylpenicillin , the first penicillin
1942 – gramicidin S , the first peptide antibiotic
1942 – sulfadimidine
1943 – sulfamerazine
1944 – streptomycin , the first aminoglycoside [2]
1947 – sulfadiazine
1948 – chlortetracycline , the first tetracycline
1949 – chloramphenicol , the first amphenicol [2]
1949 – neomycin
1950 – oxytetracycline
1950 – penicillin G procaine
1952 – erythromycin , the first macrolide [2]
1954 – benzathine penicillin
1955 – spiramycin
1955 – tetracycline
1955 – thiamphenicol
1955 – vancomycin , the first glycopeptide
1956 – phenoxymethylpenicillin
1958 – colistin , the first polymyxin
1958 – demeclocycline
1959 – virginiamycin
1960 – methicillin
1960 – metronidazole , the first nitroimidazole
1961 – ampicillin
1961 – spectinomycin
1961 – sulfamethoxazole
1961 – trimethoprim , the first dihydrofolate reductase inhibitor
1962 – cloxacillin
1962 – fusidic acid
1963 – fusafungine
1963 – lymecycline
1964 – gentamicin
1964 – cefalotin , the first cephalosporin
1966 – doxycycline
1967 – carbenicillin
1967 – rifampicin
1967 – nalidixic acid , the first quinolone
1968 – clindamycin , the second lincosamide
1970 – cefalexin
1971 – cefazolin
1971 – pivampicillin
1971 – tinidazole
1972 – amoxicillin
1972 – cefradine
1972 – minocycline
1972 – pristinamycin
1973 – fosfomycin
1974 – talampicillin
1975 – tobramycin
1975 – bacampicillin
1975 – ticarcillin
1976 – amikacin
1977 – azlocillin
1977 – cefadroxil
1977 – cefamandole
1977 – cefoxitin
1977 – cefuroxime
1977 – mezlocillin
1977 – pivmecillinam
From 1978