The experimental drug, which was isolated from a sample of New Englanddirt, is called teixobactin. It hasn’t yet been tested in people, though it cured all mice infected with antibiotic-resistant staphylococci bacteria that usually kills 90 percent of the animals, according to a study published today in the journal Nature. Bacteria appear to have a particularly difficult time developing resistance to the drug, potentially overcoming a major problem with existing antibiotics.
im Lewis, one of the study’s authors and a professor at Northeastern University in Boston estimated that it may take more than 30 years for bacteria to become resistant to teixobactin. He is also a co-founder of NovoBiotic Pharmaceuticals LLC, which is developing the drug.
“Not only one target is attacked by teixobactin but multiple targets, and they are all lethal,” Tanja Schneider, a lead author of the study and professor at the University of Bonn in Germany said on a conference call with reporters.
Teixobactin was also able to successfully attack drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis, which is neither clearly gram-positive nor gram-negative. The researchers are working on adaptations to make teixobactin effective against gram-negative cells as well.
It may take five to six years and hundreds of millions of dollars to bring the antibiotic to market, Lewis said.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-07/antibiotic-breakthrough-ends-25-year-discovery-drought.html
