Rethinking the unmet need for novel antibiotics.

Eric J Evans, P Douglas Witt, George G Zhanel, David J Klein

Abstract read

In one paragraph

Article in The Journal of antibiotics, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

1citing papers in PubMed

–field-weighted citation impact

1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

N-sulfonylated indole hydrazone hybrid targeting Staphylococcus aureus with compelling antibiofilm and membrane-disrupting properties.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2026
Article

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Eric J EvansMossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge, MA, USA. eevans@massmedangels.com.

P Douglas WittUnison Medicines, Inc., Cambridge, MA, USA.

George G ZhanelDepartment of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Max Rady College of Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.

David J KleinTemerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

A defining characteristic of the Antibiotic Resistance crisis is the lack of substantial investment by the biopharmaceutical industry, which sees limited profit potential in novel antibiotics. We argue for redefining the salient problem for novel antibiotic development as the high rates of empiric treatment failure versus focusing only on infection deaths caused by a few specific, highly drug-resistant pathogens. In turn, we propose a novel framework for the antibiotic discovery community: focus on developing pathogen-general potentiators, which could solve the problem of empiric treatment failure and have the profit potential necessary to attract industry investment.

Indexed as

Anti-Bacterial AgentsBacterial InfectionsDrug DevelopmentDrug DiscoveryDrug IndustryDrug Resistance, BacterialHumansAnti-Bacterial Agents

Identifiers

PMID41491831

DOI10.1038/s41429-025-00880-1

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata

Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.