Nearly three decades since a new category of antibiotics was released on the market, researchers at McMaster University in Canada have identified a new molecule, promising to deal with even some of the most resistant bacteria on the planet.

Researchers are now focusing on finding ways to modify its molecule and production in quantities large enough to enable clinical development.

The discovery was published in Nature magazine.

The hopeful Lariocidin

The researchers identified the Lariocidin molecule, which is part of a new category of antibiotics. The discovery responds to the critical need for new drugs that will combat microbial endurance, one of the most important threats to public health. As they point out, the new molecule is promising as an early pharmaceutical molecule because it attacks bacteria in a way different from other antibiotics.

The molecule is produced by a type of bacteria called Paenibacillus, which the researchers recovered from a sample of soil collected from a courtyard.

In addition to its unique way of acting and its activity against medicines resistant bacteria, researchers are optimistic about this molecule: it meets many of the right criteria:

a) not toxic to human cells,

b) is not sensitive to existing antibiotic resistance mechanisms and

c) It also works well in an animal infection model.

“This is a new molecule with a new way of action,” said Jerry Wright, head of research and professor at McMaster University. “It’s a big step forward for us,” he adds.