Antibiotic to fight deadly superbugs enters trials

A game-changing new antibiotic to combat bacterial superbugs has been developed by Monash University researchers.

It could represent a critical step towards addressing a global health crisis caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria that the World Health Organisation predicts will kill 10 million people a year by 2050 – more than any other disease.

The antibiotic QPX9003 is an intravenously administered, synthetic polymyxin for treating gram-negative ‘superbug’ infections and was discovered at the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute. It entered Phase 1 clinical trials at US  biopharmaceutical company Qpex Biopharma in June 2021.

“This is a remarkable achievement for our team to take a drug from concept into the clinic,” lead researcher Professor Jian Li said.

It shows significantly improved safety and efficacy over the currently used polymyxin antibiotics in pre-clinical studies.