SMI's 2nd Annual Superbugs and Superdrugs Conference: innovations in anti-infectives

The emergence of the 'Superbugs', resistant bacterial pathogens, is being aggressively met by the anti-infective community, both academia and industry, with an assortment of classical and novel approaches to control these resistant pathogens. The launch of improved quinolones (gatifloxacin and moxifloxacin), the launch of a new class of protein synthesis inhibitors (oxazolidinones; linezolid) and the ushering-in of the applied genomics age, all offer hope for the future control of resistant bacteria. The seemingly imminent development and completion of the first lipopeptide, daptomycin, offers great hope for the control of Gram-positive resistant pathogens. The first cationic peptide, IB-367, designed to combat the niche medical need of mucositis and the development of a specific antistaphylococcal glycopeptide. BI-397, all will precede the first wave of genomic-targets-based drug candidates, as the antimicrobial genomics effort remains in the target identification and validation stages of early discovery.