Designing a new antibiotic to combat drug resistance

A Harvard University research team led by Dr. Andrew Myers and Dr. Yury Polikanov has developed a synthetic compound called cresomycin to combat antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections. The compound, which is based on lincosamides, works in both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, which are hard to treat with existing antibiotics. The team used x-ray crystallography to explore how cresomycin overcomes resistance mechanisms. They tested cresomycin in mice with antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections and found that it significantly improved inhibitory activity against pathogenic bacterial strains. The researchers are now working with a nonprofit biotechnology accelerator to move the drug closer to clinical trials.