GSK Wins U.S. Antibiotic Contract

GlaxoSmithKline has scored a Department of Defense contract worth up to $41 million over five years to develop a new class of antibiotics. Under the contract, GSK will identify antibacterials targeting gram-negative biothreats as well as conventional gram-negative hospital pathogens, which have become increasingly resistant to current treatments. Gram-negative bacteria, which include Pseudomonas, Klebsiella, and Acinetobacter, are particularly tricky to combat due to an outer membrane that can keep drugs from reaching the bacterial cell. GSK will work on developing drugs that can first penetrate that barrier and then kill the pathogen.