Antibacterial products in preclinical development for bacterial priority pathogens

The World Health Organization’s October 2025 review of the antibacterial preclinical pipeline reports that as of 15 February 2025 there are 232 antibacterial therapeutic products in preclinical development, of which around half are being developed in Europe and about 94 % in high-income countries; most (nearly 90 %) are new agents rather than repurposed ones, the majority are developed by small and micro-sized private entities, and about one-third target a specific pathogen (notably *Pseudomonas aeruginosa, *Mycobacterium tuberculosis and *Staphylococcus aureus), with 210 products reportedly having activity against drug-resistant isolates.