The most recent discovery of a new
class of antibiotics was in the 1980’s1,
and there are only two companies left
(GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca) in
a shrinking field of research into new
antibiotics which are slow and expensive to develop2.
Some journalistic publications such
as Nature Magazine, were able to shed
some light on the diminishing horizons
for the future of antibiotic’s, suggesting that the key to the success of new
antibiotics is screening uncultured
bacteria - through which a new antibiotic, ‘Teixobactin’ has been found.
Teixobactin inhibits cell wall synthesis by binding to a highly conserved
motif of lipid II (precursor of peptidoglycan) and lipid III (precursor of cell
wall teichoic acid3). This development
arguably suggests a new path for the
discovery of antibiotic’s and only time
will tell how far this new method will
reproduce the diminishing support
behind new antibiotic progression.
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