ETX0462 is an experimental

antibiotic An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting pathogenic bacteria, bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the therapy ...

drug which acts both as a

β-Lactamase inhibitor Beta-lactamases are a family of enzymes involved in bacterial antimicrobial resistance, resistance to β-lactam antibiotic, beta-lactam antibiotics. In bacterial resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics, the bacteria have beta-lactamase which degra ...

and also has separate antibiotic activity in its own right. It is active against a range of drug-resistant bacteria of concern including ''

Pseudomonas aeruginosa ''Pseudomonas aeruginosa'' is a common Bacterial capsule, encapsulated, Gram-negative bacteria, Gram-negative, Aerobic organism, aerobic–facultative anaerobe, facultatively anaerobic, Bacillus (shape), rod-shaped bacteria, bacterium that can c ...

'', ''

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia '' Stenotrophomonas maltophilia'' is an aerobic, nonfermentative, Gram-negative bacterium. It is an uncommon bacterium and human infection is difficult to treat. Initially classified as ''Bacterium bookeri'', then renamed ''Pseudomonas maltoph ...

'' and ''

Burkholderia cepacia ''Burkholderia cepacia'' complex (BCC) is a species complex consisting of ''Burkholderia cepacia'' and at least 20 different biochemically similar species of Gram-negative bacteria. They are catalase-producing and lactose-nonfermenting. Membe ...

''. While ETX0462 is still in pre-clinical research and has not yet reached clinical trials, it was hailed as a significant advance as it represents an example of a completely new structural class of antibiotics, so even if this particular molecule does not get developed for medical use it is likely that related compounds will continue to be developed.

References

{{reflist Antibiotics

See also

References