Medicines Co.'s double play

While inhibiting β-lactamases is one of the dominant strategies for combating antibiotic resistance, companies have only had success targeting one of the two classes of the enzyme, serine β-lactamases, and have made little progress against the metallo class. The Medicines Co. has created a new series of molecules that inhibit both types of β-lactamase - an accomplishment previously considered unattainable - and thinks the dual-acting compounds could treat drug-resistant strains of bacteria and prevent new ones from emerging.

β-lactamases cause resistance by cleaving the β-lactam ring that is the core of many antibiotics, rendering the drugs inactive. While most resistance in the U.S. and Europe is caused by bacteria acquiring serine β-lactamases by horizontal gene transfer, strains containing metallo-β-lactamases are more common in Asia and represent a growing threat...