Scientists hail ‘exciting’ new antibiotic which kills drug-resistant superbug that ‘urgently threatens human health’

SCIENTISTS have created an entirely new type of antibiotic that could treat lethal drug-resistant superbugs.

Zosurabalpin defeated strains of Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB), a lethal bacteria resistant to most other types of medication.

Experts have hailed the discovery as "exciting" and have said it offered "definite hope" for other hard-to-treat infections.

The drug is now being tested in human trials.

Antibiotic-resistant (AMR) superbugs kill over 1million people globally each year, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) warning the planet is heading for a 'post-antibiotic' era.

Called the ‘silent pandemic,’ projections show that AMR could by 2050.

Their spread makes regular infections and routine surgeries life-threatening.

However, Zosurabalpin, made by pharma giant Roche, can "effectively" destroy CRAB, which medics have warned is epidemic in hospitals, researchers said.

The organism, classed a "priority-one critical pathogen" by the WHO, can cause very serious invasive blood and chest infections in critically ill hospital patients.

Currently, about 40-60 per cent of those infected with CRAB die.

It's so hard to treat that no new drug to treat the infection has been created in over 50 years.

This is because the bacteria is surrounded by a thick "membrane" protecting it from attack.

This tricky structure "makes it very difficult to get drugs into it and to get drugs to stay inside",  scientific director Prof Laura Piddock said.

But zosurabalpin appears to destroy the organism's ability to maintain this key protective membrane.