‘Potent’ antibiotic drug boosts fight against superbugs

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Scientists have invented a potential drug candidate that successfully combats antibiotic-resistant “superbugs” in non-human tests, according to research.

The new antibiotic, known as cresomycin, is effective in mice against several bacteria that cause serious infections and are increasingly resistant to existing treatments, said a paper published in Science on Thursday.

“What is most important is that it kills antibiotic-resistant strains in animals,” said Yury Polikanov, co-author of the research and an associate professor of biological sciences at the University of Illinois Chicago. “It’s more potent [than its predecessors] — and more potent against deadly bacteria.”

Cresomycin’s synthesis is part of urgent research efforts to defeat anti-microbial resistance (AMR), which occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites evolve the ability to resist treatments.

AMR, largely caused by excessive use of antibiotics, is already linked to 5mn deaths a year, according to the World Health Organization. Hospitals are particularly susceptible to the spread of superbugs.

Cresomycin proved effective against a range of dangerous bacteria prominent in the spread of AMR, the paper said. These include: Staphylococcus aureus, which causes infections in the skin and other organs; Escherichia coli (E-coli), responsible for intestinal and urinary tract illnesses; and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a trigger of blood and lung infections.

A big obstacle to dealing with AMR is that decades of under-investment in research has led to a lack of promising new synthetic antibiotics. Healthcare has long benefited from treatments derived from natural products, such as penicillins and cephalosporins obtained from moulds, but these are becoming increasingly ineffective as pathogens evolve to beat them.

The cresomycin paper’s authors acknowledged that the…