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Scientists say they have engineered a new antibiotic that is promising in early clinical trials against kidney infections and urinary tract infection (UTI).
The new antibiotic, cefiderocol, acts like the "trojan horse" in BBC reported on Friday.
Trials on 448 people, reported in the Lancet Infectious Diseases Journal, with a kidney or UTI suggested the drug was effective.
"This important study offers hope for a new antibiotic that could potentially be treated as an alternative," Serge Mostowy, Professor from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, was quoted as saying.
The drug takes inspiration from the story of the giant wooden horse which was used to sneak up.
But instead of wood, iron is used to smuggle an antibiotic into bacteria.
"During an acute infection," said Simon Portsmouth, of Shionogi Inc., "a Japanese pharmaceutical company, who developed the drug.
"In response, bacteria increase their intake," he added.
Cefiderocol binds to iron, in a deadly mistake, bacteria transport it their defenses and inside their cells.
"Cefiderocol was found to be both safe and tolerable," Portsmouth said.
Bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotics is making some infections incredibly difficult to treat.
The Review on Antimicrobial Resistance made stark predictions for the future, including 10 million people dying every year from drug-resistant infections by 2050.
Yet new drugs are in supply, the report said.
Experiments with pneumonia and those with infections that are more powerful, carbapenems, are already under way.
However, these studies are needed to determine the effectiveness of the disease, which is believed to be a completely new way, the researchers said.
–IANS
rt / mag / bg
(This story has been edited by Business Standard staff and is self-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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