Scripps re­searchers add pow­er to an­tibi­ot­ic van­comycin, giv­ing it a third mech­a­nism to fight su­per­bugs

The emer­gence of an­tibi­ot­ic-re­sis­tant bac­te­ria is a ma­jor world­wide con­cern for health­care pro­fes­sion­als world­wide, who in some cas­es, have been ren­dered pow­er­less to help pa­tients sur­vive su­per­bug in­fec­tions that have out-evolved ex­ist­ing drugs. Progress has slowed on cre­at­ing new an­tibi­otics over sev­er­al decades as many com­pa­nies cal­cu­lat­ed their re­turn on in­vest­ment for de­vel­op­ing one won’t be suf­fi­cient, at least with­out spe­cial in­cen­tives. Ac­cord­ing to the World Health Or­ga­ni­za­tion, “With­out ur­gent ac­tion, we are head­ing for a post-an­tibi­ot­ic era, in which com­mon in­fec­tions and mi­nor in­juries can once again kill.”

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