Novel antibacterial compounds addressing resistance: patent disclosures 2002 – 2005

Abstract

The continuing increase in the incidence of multi-drug resistant pathogenic bacteria is the prime driver in efforts to identify novel antibacterial classes. The intent is to introduce fundamentally new compounds that inhibit critical bacterial functions not previously targeted by currently marketed classes of antibiotics. This review summarises patent applications published within the period March 2002 – March 2005 describing novel compounds with antibacterial activity that interfere with essential cell functions, which are largely untapped as targets, or that appear to interact with established targets in novel ways, pointing to their potential to circumvent current and future bacterial resistance. New variants of existing antibiotics that have been modified to address specific resistance issues within the class are not included in this review.

Keywords::

• antibacterial
• DNA polymerase
• fatty acid biosynthesis
• efflux inhibitor
• LpxC
• peptide deformylase
• resistance
• topoisomerase
• t-RNA synthetase