New Antibiotics Against Superbugs: Breakthrough Discoveries in
Quick Facts
What New Antibiotics Are in Development?
Most Promising
- Zosurabalpin: Macrocyclic peptide targeting carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii (CRAB). Developed by Roche, reported in Nature 2024.
- Cresomycin: Synthetic ribosome-targeting antibiotic developed at Harvard. Effective against multiple resistant bacteria including MRSA and VRE.
- Halicin: AI-discovered by MIT researchers. Works through a novel mechanism disrupting the bacterial membrane electrochemical gradient.
- Gepotidacin: First-in-class triazaacenaphthylene antibiotic by GSK. Approved for uncomplicated UTIs.
How Is AI Changing Antibiotic Discovery?
AI capabilities in antibiotic discovery:
- Virtual screening: Millions of compounds analyzed in hours rather than years
- Novel mechanisms: Identifies entirely new drug classes humans might miss
- Resistance prediction: Models how bacteria may develop resistance
- Toxicity filtering: Excludes toxic compounds early in the pipeline
Works with research institutions and companies worldwide to accelerate antibiotic development, including exploring drug repurposing for antibacterial activity.
What Is Phage Therapy?
- Growing clinical use: Hundreds of patients treated globally through compassionate use programs, with encouraging response rates
- Multiple active trials for UTIs, prosthetic joint infections, cystic fibrosis lung infections, and chronic wounds
- Personalized cocktails: Phage libraries matched to a patient's specific bacteria, often within days
- Engineered phages: Genetically modified phages designed for enhanced bacterial killing and reduced resistance
Regulatory pathways for phage therapy are still being developed. Several programs are working toward FDA approval.
Frequently Asked Questions
Antimicrobial resistance directly caused an estimated 1.27 million deaths globally in 2019, and a landmark review projected up to 10 million annual deaths by 2050 without action.
Bacteria resistant to multiple antibiotics, including MRSA, carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE), VRE, and drug-resistant tuberculosis.
Only take antibiotics when prescribed by a healthcare provider, complete the full prescribed course, and never share antibiotics with others.
Several candidates are in late-stage trials with potential approvals in the coming years. AI-accelerated compounds are also progressing through the pipeline.
The Pioneering Antimicrobial Subscriptions to End Upsurging Resistance (PASTEUR) Act is proposed US legislation that would create guaranteed revenue contracts to incentivize antibiotic development.
References
- Murray CJL, et al. Global burden of bacterial antimicrobial resistance in 2019: a systematic analysis. The Lancet. 2022;399(10325):629-655.
- Stokes JM, et al. A Deep Learning Approach to Antibiotic Discovery. Cell. 2020;180(4):688-702.e13.
- Zampaloni C, et al. A novel antibiotic class targeting the lipopolysaccharide transporter. Nature. 2024;625:566-571.
- Strathdee SA, et al. Phage therapy: From biological mechanisms to future directions. Cell. 2023;186(1):17-31.
- WHO. 2023 Antibacterial agents in clinical and preclinical development: an overview and analysis. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2024.
- O'Neill J. Tackling Drug-Resistant Infections Globally: Final Report and Recommendations. The Review on Antimicrobial Resistance. 2016.