NovoBiotic Pharmaceuticals, LLC announces the discovery and preclinical development of teixobactin, a compound belonging to a new class of antibiotics.
As reported in the journal Nature (Ling et. al. 2015), the compound shows potent killing against a broad panel of bacterial pathogens including methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE).
In addition, teixobactin showed favorable drug properties including excellent efficacy in three mouse
models of infection (septicemia, skin and lung).
In collaboration with the University of Bonn (Bonn, Germany) and Northeastern University (Boston, MA), teixobactin was shown to inhibit bacterial cell wall synthesis by binding to two cell wall components: lipid II and lipid III.
In addition, no resistant mutants of either S. aureus or Mycobacterium tuberculosis could be generated.
“The need for new antibiotics is acute due to the global problem of pathogen drug resistance. Teixobactin’s dual mode of action and binding to non-peptidic regions suggest that resistance will be very difficult to develop” said Dr. Kim Lewis, co-founder of NovoBiotic.
Teixobactin was discovered in a screen against the company’s extensive extract library generated from previously uncultured microbes.
“The discovery of teixobactin is further evidence that our unique culturing technologies provide ready access to new chemistry from nature that can be screened for novel drug leads” said Dr. Dallas Hughes, President of NovoBiotic.
There is an urgent need for newer antibiotic due to developing resistance. The resistance is completely a problem created by improper medication intake. The newer molecule should be used very carefully and in restricted manner. There are number of guidelines suggesting rational use of antibiotic depending upon infection but they are not followed appropriately. These guidelines are available freely and easily on databases like http://www.treatmentguideline.com to download.