The new compound can combat multidrug-resistant infections of Gram-negative bacteria, such as E. coli.

It’s been 50 years since a new antibiotic class with activity against Gram-negative bacteria has been approved. Now, at least, researchers have discovered one that could be a candidate and has performed well in preclinical research.

Gram-negative bacteria include the common pathogen Escherichia coli that can cause food poisoning, as well as multi-drug resistant bacteria that cause severe and often deadly infections. These Gram-negative bacteria all have a dual membrane that prevents antibiotics from accessing their targets.

Now researchers looked to a family of natural product inhibitors called arylomycin and discovered a synthetic derivative, called G0775, which can penetrate the outer membranes. G0775 was found to be effective against highly multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria in multiple mouse models.

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