The Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche to begin phase III trial on a new antibiotic to combat one of the world’s deadliest drug-resistant infections.

Good news! Human ingenuity beats any bacteria!

"The drug [zosurabalpin} targets Acinetobacter baumannii, a hospital-acquired superbug resistant to nearly all existing antibiotics. Roche plans to begin Phase III trials in late 2025—a rare late‑stage advance in a field long stalled by limited commercial incentives."

"... Zosurabalpin is a tethered macrocyclic peptide (MCP) antibiotic that was identified through the screening of nearly 45,000 compounds. As described in two papers published in Nature in January 2024 by scientists at Roche and Harvard University, MCPs work by blocking the transport of lipopolysaccharide from the inner bacterial membrane to the outer membrane, which is essential for outer membrane formation and antibiotic resistance in A baumannii. ..."

Weekly Progress Roundup - by Malcolm Cochran - Doomslayer

Roche to launch phase 3 trial for new antibiotic targeting Acinetobacter baumannii

Chemical Structure Depiction (Source)