Researchers identify novel antibiotics in dirt

NovoBiotic Pharmaceuticals LLC (Cambridge, Mass.) said it has discovered and begun preclinical development of teixobactin, an antibiotic derived from soil organisms that it says targets a broad spectrum of Gram-positive bacteria with very low probability of resistance.

Data from a study published in Nature on Wednesday showed teixobactin killed about 100 times more Staphylococcus aureus than vancomycin, and unlike most antibiotics was able to lyse cells directly. The compound's mechanism of action addresses two targets, including a component of bacterial cell wall biosynthesis whose inhibition induces bacteria to self-digest their cell walls, resulting in rapid lysis. In a mouse lethal challenge model of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) septicemia, the compound protected all mice at doses that compared favorably to vancomycin. ...