The broad-spectrum antibiotic Ceftobiprole, discovered by Swiss company Basilea Pharmaceuticals, has been demonstrated to be effective against some of the deadliest strains of multiple-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), including those strains which have developed resistance the antibiotic vancomycin (VRSA).

The research, to be published in the August 2008 issue of the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy and available online now, looked at how well Ceftobiprole worked against bacterial clones that had already developed resistance to other drugs. In every case, Ceftobiprole won. "It just knocked out the cells 100 percent," says the study's lead investigator, Alexander Tomasz, head of the Laboratory of microbiology at Rockefeller.

In photo: Strains of bacteria that are resistant to the antibiotic vancomycin grow easily in its presence (top), but are completely eliminated (bottom) when exposed to Ceftobiprole.


Source