New drugs for the chemotherapy of mycobacterial infections

Infections caused by mycobacteria constitute important global health problems and during the last 50 years a number of drugs have achieved an established role in the therapy of these infections. However, the emergence of resistance to the current agents is creating a requirement for the development of new agents to address the challenges presented by drug-resistant mycobacteria. This article reviews the progress being made in the discovery and development of new drugs for the chemotherapy of mycobacterial infections. The topics include analogs of existing drugs, reassessment of older drug classes previously considered to have no role in mycobacterial chemotherapy and the prospects for oligonucleotide based therapies. The impact of genomics on drug discovery is also considered.