Scientists hail ‘exciting’ new antibiotic which kills drug-resistant superbug that ‘urgently threatens human health’

SCIENTISTS have created an entirely new type of antibiotic that could treat lethal drug-resistant superbugs.

Zosurabalpin defeated strains of Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB), a lethal bacteria resistant to most other types of medication.

Getty – ContributorZosurabalpin could be effective against a drug-resistant bug[/caption]

Experts have hailed the discovery as “exciting” and have said it offered “definite hope” for other hard-to-treat infections.

The drug is now being tested in human trials.

Antibiotic-resistant (AMR) superbugs kill over 1million people globally each year, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) warning the planet is heading for a ‘post-antibiotic’ era.

Called the ‘silent pandemic,’ projections show that AMR could claim 10million lives annually by 2050.

Their spread makes regular infections and routine surgeries life-threatening.

However, Zosurabalpin, made by pharma giant Roche, can “effectively” destroy CRAB, which medics have warned is epidemic in hospitals, researchers said.

The organism, classed a “priority-one critical pathogen” by the WHO, can cause very serious invasive blood and chest infections in critically ill hospital patients.

Currently, about 40-60 per cent of those infected with CRAB die.

It’s so hard to treat that no new drug to treat the infection has been created in over 50 years.

This is because the bacteria is surrounded by a thick “membrane” protecting it from attack.

This tricky structure “makes it very difficult to get drugs into it and to get drugs to stay inside”, Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership scientific director Prof Laura Piddock said.

But zosurabalpin appears to destroy the organism’s ability to maintain this key protective membrane.

“It is really exciting – and not only is it good for this type of bacteria, but this could be built upon for others as well,” Prof Laura Piddock told The BBC.

Dr Michael Lobritz, the global head of infectious diseases at Roche, said: “This is the first time we’ve found anything that operates in this way, so it is unique in its chemical makeup and mechanism of action.”

However, he stressed the discovery of this drug would not solve the public health threat of antimicrobial-resistant infections alone, but does set the stage for future drugs using the same mechanism.

Prof Laura added: “Full clinical trials… take a lot of time, several years. And indeed, they cost millions of pounds to do.”

But despite the hurdles, there is “definite hope”, she said.

Scientists recently published the results of their experiments involving Zosurabalpin in the journal Nature.