FDA’s Farm Animal Antibiotics Ban Ignored Since 1977, Courts Say
The Food and Drug Administration must act quickly to enforce a largely ignored 35-year-old mandate prohibiting non-medical use of antibiotics in farm animals.
antibiotics
Nanomedicine Attacks Bacteria Where Antibiotics Can Not
IBM and a research group in Singapore have engineered a new kind of nano particle that could attack bacteria that have become resistant to antibiotics.
Advanced Life Sciences: Addressing Antibiotic Resistance in Infectious Disease Market
The company’s lead product is Restanza (cethromycin), a novel once-a-day antibiotic for the treatment of life-threatening bacterial infections and bioterror pathogens.
Cubist/Calixa Deal the Latest in a String of Biotech Buyouts
Cubist Pharmaceuticals has announced plans to acquire tiny San Diego biotech Calixa Therapeutics for up to $402.5 million.
[Company Profile] MicroPhage
MicroPhage of Longmont, Colo., has developed a platform of rapid diagnostic tests to identify staph bacteria and determine methicillin resistance (MRSA) and susceptibility (MSSA).
Two Studies Show Potential for Treating Drug-Resistant TB
Tuberculosis, or TB, is one of the world’s most widespread lethal diseases, killing someone every 20 seconds. An estimated one-third of the world’s population is infected with tuberculosis. Current medications for TB must be taken for six months, but many patients stop before they’ve completed the full course, which has caused drug-resistant strains of TB to develop in recent years. However, two new studies are showing promise in treating this highly infectious disease.
According to Science Daily, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University found that a combination of two FDA-approved antibiotics showed potential for treating drug-resistant TB. One of the drugs, clavulanate, inhibits a bacterial enzyme that normally protects TB bacteria from the other antibiotic (meropenem). Clinical trials of the combined treatment are scheduled to take place later this year in South Africa and South Korea.