Antibiotics are the workhorses of the medical world, critical for controlling infections and saving lives but rarely grabbing the attention that blockbuster treatments often do. Dame Emma Walmsley, CEO of the pharmaceutical company GSK, admits they have become “unfashionable.” But a new antibiotic for treating urinary tract infections (UTIs) might change that. In March, her team at GSK received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a new type of antibiotic, Blujepa, that interrupts the ability of UTI-causing bacteria, E. coli, to replicate. The drug targets two enzymes that E. coli use to untangle their genetic material in order to proliferate. And because Blujepa works through a novel approach, scientists hope the drug will make it harder for the bacteria to develop resistance against it.
Focusing on a new antibiotic for UTIs, which haven’t had a novel therapy in decades, was intentional, Walmsley says. Half of women have a UTI at least once in their lifetime, and many experience repeat infections, raising the risk that the bacteria may become resistant to the antibiotics they take. Walmsley says GSK is also developing a different antibiotic to treat more complicated UTI cases as well.
Walmsley anticipates three more drugs potentially receiving FDA approval in the coming year, and says there are about a dozen promising medications in the pipeline.