Superbug research funding bonanza

Seven new research projects have been funded to try to stem the growing threat of superbugs.

Scientists developing promising new antibiotics in the UK, India, Ireland, France, Switzerland and the US have been awarded a share of £13.5 million for their research.

The funding comes from Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator (CARB-X) – a partnership between UK charity Wellcome Trust and a number of arms-length bodies of the US Department of Health and Human Services.

It includes money for five potential new class antibiotics for Gram-negative bacteria, a new molecule targeting a superbug causing serious infections in cystic fibrosis patients and a phase 1 clinical trial of a new oral broad-spectrum antibiotic.

The UK has led the drive to raise global awareness of the threat posed to modern medicine by antimicrobial resistance.

If antibiotics lose their effectiveness, then key medical procedures – including gut surgery, caesarean sections, joint replacements and chemotherapy – could become too dangerous to perform.

About 700,000 people die annually due to drugresistant infections.