A new class of antibiotics could offer an important line of defense against a pernicious cause of infection: antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
These particular bacteria, known as gram-negative bacteria, are hard to kill because their cell walls are impenetrable to most common antibiotics. These cell walls also allow the bacteria to persist in harsh environments, meaning they can survive outside of a host for weeks before causing new infections.
What’s more, the antibiotics that do work against gram-negative bacteria are becoming less effective as many species evolve resistance to the drugs. It’s been fifty years since a new class of antibiotics against gram-negative bacteria has hit the market, says Kenneth Bradley, the global head of infectious disease discovery at Roche Pharma Research & Early Development.
Now, in two new studies in the journal Nature, Roche has announced a new class of antibiotics that works in animals to combat Acinetobacter baumannii, a gram-negative bacterium that causes about 8,500 infections in the U.S. each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A. baumannii is a common hospital-acquired infection that can affect the blood, urinary tract, lungs, and open wounds, according to the CDC. It is estimated to...
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