Scientists find antibiotic that kills
bugs without resistance
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[January 08, 2015]
By Kate Kelland
LONDON, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Scientists have
discovered a new antibiotic, teixobactin, that can kill serious
infections in mice without encountering any detectable resistance,
offering a potential new way to get ahead of dangerous evolving
superbugs.
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Researchers said the antibiotic, which has yet to be trialled in
humans, could one day be used to treat drug-resistant infections
caused by the superbug MSRA, as well as tuberculosis, which normally
requires a combination of drugs that can have adverse side effects.
"The discovery of this novel compound challenges long-held
scientific beliefs and holds great promise for treating an array of
menacing infections," said Kim Lewis, a professor at Northeastern
University in the United States and co-founder of the NovoBiotic
Pharmaceuticals, which has patented teixobactin.
Lewis worked with researchers at Germany's University of Bonn and
with Britain's Selcia Limited, and the finding was published in the
journal Nature on Wednesday.
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His co-researcher, Bonn's Tanya Schneider, explained in a
teleconference that teixobactin belongs to a new class of compounds
and kills bacteria by causing their cell walls to break down. It
seems to work by binding to multiple targets, she said, which may
slow down the development of resistance.
The problem of infections developing drug resistance -- a feature of
medicine since Alexander Fleming's discovery of the first
antibiotic, penicillin, in 1928 -- has worsened in recent years as
multi-drug-resistant bugs have developed and drug companies have cut
investment.
The World Health Organization warned last year that a
post-antibiotic era, where even basic healthcare becomes dangerous
due to risk of infection during routine operations, could come this
century unless something drastic is done.
Lewis and his NovoBiotic colleagues sought to address the problem by
tapping into new potential sources of antibiotics. They developed a
way of growing uncultured bacteria in their natural environment
using a miniature device called an iChip that can isolate and help
grow single cells.
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NovoBiotic has since collected about 50,000 strains of uncultured
bacteria and discovered 25 new antibiotics, of which teixobactin is
the latest and most interesting, Lewis said.
Scientists not involved in the work welcomed the finding, but
cautioned that human trials of teixobactin would be key.
"The discovery of a potential new class of antibiotics is good
news," said Richard Seabrook of Britain's Wellcome Trust medical
charity. "Screening previously unculturable soil bacteria is a new
twist in the search ... and it is encouraging to see this approach
yielding results. However, we will not know whether teixobactin will
be effective in humans until this research is taken ... to clinical
trials."
Lewis hopes to start human testing in around two years.
(Editing by Ruth Pitchford)
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