Researchers boost existing antibiotic to tackle drug resistance

The growing issue of antibiotic resistance is finding itself increasingly central in pharma’s priorities, though many still argue that the problem is not given enough attention. New forecasts suggest that 10 million will die each year as a result of drug-resistant infections by 2050, highlighting the threat posed to global health. Now, a team from the University of Lincoln in the UK has developed a new form of antibiotic which has proven its ability to defeat existing multidrug-resistant infections.

Dr Ishwar Singh led the team in investigating the effects of teixobactin – a new generation antibiotic. The team managed to identify the amino acid within the drug which gives it its ability to defeat bacteria such as methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a notoriously antibiotic-resistant superbug.

Taking these findings, the team synthesised derivatives of teixobactin and built three-dimensional representations of its molecular make-up.  Dr Singh commented: "The scientific community has found it extremely difficult, time-consuming and expensive to synthetically produce the amino acid, enduracididine, which makes teixobactin so effective at killing a range of pathogens without detectable resistance.

"Last year we were successful in producing man-made forms of the antibiotic, but now we have increased its potency against MRSA," he continued. "The key amino acid, enduracididine, is important for high potency but it has also been a bottleneck in the wider production of powerful teixobactin derivatives and their advancement as new drugs. We have now developed several potent molecules with very similar effects to natural teixobactin, and we believe this takes us a step closer towards the clinic."

Researchers are confident that these new, potent forms of teixobactin have not been resisted by its targets and are unlikely to be resisted in the future. Dr Singh and his team are now working with the School of Life Sciences and the School of Chemistry at the University of Lincoln to develop the drug into a viable drug candidate.

Dr Edward Taylor, Reader in Life Sciences at the University of Lincoln, added: "Antimicrobial resistance is spreading faster than the introduction of new antibiotics, which means there are major concerns about a possible health crisis. The recently discovered teixobactin has shown tremendous promise due to its potent activity, particularly against resistant pathogens such as MRSA, which is why it is the focus of important research here at Lincoln and around the world."

Matt Fellows