Mycobacterium abscessus is a pathogenic bacterium know to cause tuberculosis and leprosy. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University and Medicine discovered a way to target the resistance of the pathogen through a powerful new antibiotic.
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"People die of this in our hospitals every week," said Craig Townsend, a professor of chemistry who served as a principal investigator on the study along with Gyanu Lamichhane, an associate professor of medicine. "The data we have is very promising."
The antibiotic, referred to in the data as compound T405, is currently being examined to improve its pharmacological potency using preclinical animal models. Findings were published in the Communications Biology.
"It's still considered an emerging disease," Lamichhane said. "There are now more NTM than tuberculosis cases in the United States. And this is the most virulent of all of them."
Source: Science Daily
