Novel anti-staphylococcal targets and compounds.
Many antimicrobial drugs have become less effective at combating infectious diseases, and experts in the field are concerned about the possibility of a 'post-antibiotic era' for some clinically important pathogens, particularly staphylococci. In our hospitals, nosocomial infections due to vancomycin-resistant enterococci have emerged, and there are concerns that the same resistance pattern may evolve in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Examples from three main areas addressed to prevent this scenario are discussed: (i) screening of isolated biochemical targets and intact bacteria using high-throughput screening technologies, (ii) modifying existing compound classes like quinolones and glycopeptides to create more powerful compounds overcoming pathogen resistance and (iii) introduction of completely new classes of antibiotics.
Pharma Research Center Wuppertal, Bayer AG, D-42096 Wuppertal, Germany. harald.labischinski.hl@bayer-ag.de
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