| New class of antibiotic could be effective against superbugs -
17-05-2006, 08:32 PM
Scientists have found a new weapon in the fight against drug-resistant hospital superbugs: a new class of antibiotic called platensimycin. If it passes the required clinical trials, it will be only the third entirely new anti-bacterial to reach the clinic in the past 40 years.
The drug is in the earliest stages of development but, if successful, could prove invaluable against bacteria such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Enterococcus, resistant to even the the most powerful modern antibiotics such as vancomycin. It was discovered by a team at Merck research laboratories in New Jersey. The results are published today in Nature.
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