{"id":2127,"date":"2020-10-21T22:37:55","date_gmt":"2020-10-21T22:37:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biotechsa.com\/2\/?p=2127"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:58:40","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T18:58:40","slug":"ontario-scientist-thinks-old-drugs-could-become-our-new-antibiotics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biotechsa.com\/2\/noticias\/ontario-scientist-thinks-old-drugs-could-become-our-new-antibiotics\/","title":{"rendered":"Ontario scientist thinks old drugs could become our new antibiotics"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As the world loses its upper hand in the antibiotics arms race, it raises the spectre of untreatable infections resulting from routine surgeries. But a Canadian scientist has discovered a surprising source of potential antibiotic options.<\/p>\n

Since the early 1990s, there\u2019s been little progress in the search for new antibiotics. A new one hasn\u2019t been developed in years, partly because the most obvious ones have already been found. Superbug headlines reflect the need for new ways to kill superbugs that develop resistance to antibiotics.<\/p>\n

The challenge is bacteria have multiple layers of defence that scientists need to dismantle. That\u2019s where McMaster University scientist Eric Brown\u2019s research comes in. His team is focused on screening thousands of chemicals that are already used to treat other diseases to see if any will work against bacteria. \u201cWe kind of pride ourselves in my research group of doing the crazy stuff. Screens that won\u2019t be done say in a pharmaceutical setting,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n

Minor surgeries are already becoming more dangerous. Last year, researchers writing in The Lancet Infectious Diseases warned that between 39 and 50 percent of bugs that cause infections in surgical sites are already resistant to standard antibiotics. More than a quarter of pathogens that cause chemo-related infections are also resistant.\u00a0 The findings add a sense of urgency to Brown\u2019s work in Hamilton, Ontario.<\/p>\n

The advantage of repurposing old drugs to fight bacteria is they\u2019ve already been tested and proven to be safe. The pharmaceutical industry typically takes 15 years to develop a drug. \u201cI think though that we\u2019ve got a chance to shorten the path to the clinic by starting with a lead that is already a drug,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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