New ‘superbug' antibiotic to treat sepsis and pneumonia enters last phase of testing
A new antibiotic that has the potential to save millions of lives has entered its last phase of human testing.
Swiss drugmaker Roche announced it would advance the testing of an antibiotic against a common bacterium that causes serious hospital infections like pneumonia and sepsis into the third and final stage of testing.
The antibiotic zosurabalpin, which is jointly developed with Harvard University, is to be tested against drug-resistant acinetobacter baumannii bacteria.
The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) labels acinetobacter baumannii as an 'urgent threat', but there have been no antibiotics created which react to it in more than 50 years.
Roche announced the phase 3 trial will be a single pivotal study with approximately 400 patients from around the world, randomised to receive either zosuarbalpin or the standard treatment.
Michael Lobritz, global head of infectious diseases at Roche, said: 'Our goal is to contribute new innovations to overcome antimicrobial resistance, one of the biggest infectious disease challenges to public health.'
Larry Tsai, senior vice president and global head of immunology and product development at Genentech, a unit of Roche, said the drug-resistant bacteria 'are present in every country of the world'.
He added that 'the innovative biology involved in this research could potentially reveal new insights into the structure of bacterial membranes, possibly leading to the discovery of new antibiotics in the future'.
It is hoped the experimental drug will be approved by the end of the decade.
Globally, sepsis is estimated to cause approximately 11 million deaths each year – one death every 2.8 seconds.
Worldwide, community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) kills three to four million people each year with high morbidity and mortality, particularly among elderly patients.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
34 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Mini black holes could be hiding in your HOME, scientists warn
Black holes are some of the most violent and destructive objects in the universe. And as terrifying as it sounds, thousands of these mysterious voids could be whizzing through your home at this very moment. Scientists believe the universe may be littered with objects called primordial black holes. According to some calculations, as many as 1,000 could be passing through every square metre of the planet each year. One of these black holes might even blast straight through your head, without you ever knowing it was there. Primordial black holes are ancient entities formed in the very first moments of the Big Bang, which have been drifting through the universe ever since. However, these are not the star-swallowing, galaxy-churning supermassive black holes that appear in science-fiction blockbusters like Interstellar. Instead, they are microscopic singularities no larger than a hydrogen atom, ranging from the mass of a single bacterium to that of a medium-sized asteroid. The black holes in your home Typically, black holes form when a star with a lot of mass collapses in on itself until it forms an ultra-dense point known as a singularity. These points of matter have such a strong gravitational pull that even light is pulled in - hence why they appear 'black'. However, primordial black holes might form in a slightly different way. In fact, these would have formed so early on in the universe that stars wouldn't have even had time to form. Dr De-Chang Dai, a black hole researcher from Yangzhou University, China, told MailOnline: 'Primordial black holes are black holes created soon after the Big Bang. 'At this period, the temperature and energy density of the universe were very high.' So, when small pockets of 'overdense' matter formed, this high energy squished them into very small black holes. What are primordial black holes? Primordial black holes are microscopic pieces of ultra-dense matter, just like normal black holes but smaller. Scientists think they may have been formed at the very beginning of the universe rather than out of collapsing stars. Their masses could range between 100,000 times less than a paperclip to 100,000 times greater than the sun. We haven't found proof that they exist, but they might form part of the 'dark matter' which makes up a large part of the mass of the universe. Over the 13.8 billion years that followed, some of these black holes would have slowly evaporated away through a process called Hawking Radiation, leaving behind only tiny remnants. The main reason scientists are so interested in these currently theoretical objects is that they are one of the best candidates for dark matter. Dark matter is a hypothetical substance which scientists have proposed to make up the mass which seems to be missing from galaxies. Although we can't see it or interact with it, scientists estimate that dark matter might make up around 27 per cent of the universe. Since primordial black holes don't radiate much energy and are almost impossible to detect, while also holding a lot of mass, they are a good fit for this role. Professor Dejan Stojkovic, a black hole physicist from the University at Buffalo, told MailOnline: 'In the light of all these null results from the direct and indirect dark matter searches, primordial black holes appear to be the least exotic possibility.' If these tiny black holes really are what scientists have been calling 'dark matter' then they should be found almost everywhere in the universe, including in our solar system. How many primordial black holes are there? Since we know how much dark matter there is supposed to be, scientists can actually work out how many primordial black holes we should expect to encounter. However, this will depend on how much mass scientists think a primordial black hole contains. Dr Sarah Geller, a theoretical physicist from UC Santa Cruz, says that if primordial black holes exist then they probably have a mass of 'a billion billion grams each' - around the size of an asteroid. Dr Geller says: 'Supposing that they make up all of the dark matter then we can expect there to be at least one within a distance of 5 Astronomical Units from the Sun - a distance of about Jupiter's orbit.' Likewise, Valentin Thoss, a black hole researcher and PhD candidate at the University of Munich told MailOnline: 'If their mass is ten trillion tonnes, which is comparable to a very heavy asteroid, there would be on average a few dozen within the planetary zone of the solar system. 'Within 20 years we can expect one to fly past Earth at a distance of around 200 million kilometres, which is roughly the distance between the sun and Earth.' However, the lighter each individual black hole is the more will be needed to make up the mass of dark matter in the universe, and some researchers think they could be much lighter. Scientists used to think that black holes would eventually evaporate over time to the point that they just vanished. But new research suggests that there might be a limit which slows down this evaporation over time until they reach a stable mass. This could allow black holes to be much smaller than researchers had previously thought possible. Professor Stojkovic suggests that all the primordial black holes might have shrunk to become 'Planck mass remnants', weighing just 10 micrograms. At this mass, the universe would be so full of primordial black holes that 1,000 per year would pass through every square metre of Earth. What happens if a black hole hits me? The fact that there are black holes hanging around the solar system might sound alarming, but just how worrying that is depends on the black holes' mass. If the black holes are as small as Professor Stojkovic suggests they could be, then there is nothing to worry about at all. '1000 crossings per year per square metre is not drastic at all since 10 micrograms is about the mass of a bacteria. 'We have trillions of bacteria around us at any moment, though they are not moving very fast.' These tiny black holes would pass through your body without even disturbing your cells, let alone causing any noticeable damage. As the predicted mass of the black holes gets larger the chances of one hitting Earth becomes rarer, but they also have the possibility of creating more damage. Travelling at around 180 miles per second (300 kilometres per second) a black hole with a mass between that of an asteroid and a small planet would pass through Earth in seconds. However, this wouldn't be like an asteroid of normal density hitting Earth. Because primordial black holes are so small, about the size of an atom, scientists say their passage through solid matter would be like a bullet going through a cloud. If one were to hit Earth it might leave a very small tunnel straight through the planet and create some unusual seismic signals but otherwise wouldn't be detectable. But if one of these larger primordial black holes hit you, then you definitely would feel it. Dr Geller says: 'Most likely this wouldn't be great for that person's health. 'The primordial black hole would go right through a person, and though it leaves only a very tiny hole, it might impart some velocity and give the person a real kick!' Previous calculations suggest that a black hole with a mass of seven trillion tonnes would hit with as much force as a .22-calibre rifle bullet. Just like a gunshot, that would be enough power to rupture organs, tear flesh, and destroy your brain. Fortunately, this is right up at the higher end of primordial black holes possible masses and you would need to be extremely unlucky to encounter one of these. Dr Geller says:' In practice, the chances of such a collision are vanishingly tiny: it's much more likely you could succeed in dropping a peanut from an aeroplane at random into a field the size of a million football fields and hit a single specific blade of grass.' BLACK HOLES HAVE A GRAVITATIONAL PULL SO STRONG NOT EVEN LIGHT CAN ESCAPE Black holes are so dense and their gravitational pull is so strong that no form of radiation can escape them - not even light. They act as intense sources of gravity which hoover up dust and gas around them. Their intense gravitational pull is thought to be what stars in galaxies orbit around. How they are formed is still poorly understood. Astronomers believe they may form when a large cloud of gas up to 100,000 times bigger than the sun, collapses into a black hole. Many of these black hole seeds then merge to form much larger supermassive black holes, which are found at the centre of every known massive galaxy. Alternatively, a supermassive black hole seed could come from a giant star, about 100 times the sun's mass, that ultimately forms into a black hole after it runs out of fuel and collapses. When these giant stars die, they also go 'supernova', a huge explosion that expels the matter from the outer layers of the star into deep space.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
‘A perfect storm': multi-club ownership, Crystal Palace and a looming court threat
In the waterfront offices of Uefa's House of European Football headquarters in Nyon, the legal team are preparing for an unwanted trip around Lake Geneva to Lausanne. Over the course of many internal meetings since Crystal Palace inadvertently provided Uefa with the toughest test yet of its multi-club ownership (MCO) rules by winning the FA Cup, it has become increasingly clear the ultimate arbiter on the issue is likely to be the court of arbitration for sport (Cas). 'We're going to find out if our MCO rules stand up to scrutiny as, one way or another, it looks like we're going to Cas,' says one source at Uefa, resigned to the issue of whether Palace can compete in next season's Europa League being placed in the hands of that Lausanne court. Uefa has been liaising closely with Palace, with sources claiming the issue of John Textor's dual shareholding in the club and Lyon – who qualified for the Europa League by finishing sixth in Ligue 1 – was flagged by the governing body long before the 1 March deadline for resolving MCO issues. The American is in advanced discussions over selling his 44.9% stake in Palace to the New York Jets owner, Woody Johnson, which may help the club's cause, although there is no prospect of the deal being completed before Uefa has to make a decision. The case is emblematic of the confusion surrounding club ownership and the regulatory issues facing the sport, and Uefa has delayed a ruling until the related case of Lyon's financial problems has been resolved. The DNCG – French football's financial watchdog – is auditing Lyon's accounts after imposing a provisional relegation to Ligue 2 last year owing to the club's debt levels, with a final outcome expected next week. Relegation and a ban from European competition for Lyon would make Uefa's life a lot easier, although both seem unlikely. 'It's a perfect storm,' says a sympathetic figure at another club. 'Everything that could go wrong from Uefa's point of view has done. We have three clubs involved [Palace, Lyon and Brøndby, who are owned by the Palace shareholder David Blitzer], and two multi-club groups. There's a complex ownership group at Palace who don't appear to communicate very well, and a surprise FA Cup winner. Not to mention Lyon's financial issues. You couldn't make it up really.' Palace sources acknowledge they are working with Uefa amid belief on both sides that an accommodation is wanted, but two factors beyond either party's control could count against them. First, Cas last month upheld Fifa's decision to expel the Mexican club León from the Club World Cup because they are part of the same ownership group as another qualifier, Pachuca. The owner, Grupo Pachuca, had attempted to park its León shareholding in a separate trust but this move did not satisfy Fifa or Cas. In another complication Nottingham Forest, who will be moved from the Conference League to the Europa League if Palace are kicked out, may go to Cas if denied that promotion. A source close to Forest's owner, Evangelos Marinakis, told the Guardian the Greek billionaire was opposed to many of the moves to regulate football and was prepared to take on Uefa. There are clear financial incentives to do so. Whereas Chelsea earned £21m in prize money from winning the Conference League in the past season, Tottenham's Europa League triumph could be worth well over £100m because it also delivered a Champions League place. Palace are worried the León ruling has set a precedent that could work against them. At Uefa there is a feeling that it would rather face Forest at Cas than have its multi-club framework tested in court by Palace. One figure at a European team with direct experience of multi-club contortions believes Uefa will give Palace every opportunity to pass muster, concurring that the governing body's regulations could be brought tumbling down in the event Textor and company mounted a challenge. An examination brought about by Forest would, they suggested, give the existing rules a far better chance of holding firm. Confirmation by Cas this week of the League of Ireland side Drogheda's expulsion from the Conference League owing to a multi-club breach has heightened concerns in Nyon, but the cases are different. Drogheda had qualified by winning the Irish Cup last November yet their owner, Trivela Group, failed to meet Uefa's March deadline, and unlike Textor the American investors are majority owners of two clubs: Drogheda and Denmark's Silkeborg. Uefa had caused disquiet in some quarters by shifting that deadline forward from last year's June date. Some figures involved in club acquisition have expressed surprise that Drogheda were not able to win their case at Cas. 'Uefa are trying to be flexible, but the Fifa v Club León case is making it harder for them,' a source said. 'Cas upheld Fifa's rules, which are very similar to Uefa's, so the precedent is there. The Cas ruling was based on the nature of the blind trust and the importance of the regulatory process – ie dates and deadlines. To put it simply Palace haven't complied, but Uefa want to make it work.' There is some acknowledgment at Uefa that elements of its MCO rules are not fit for purpose, although it would prefer to redraft them in Nyon than put them at the mercy of the court. There is nothing in Article 5 of Uefa's rules detailing whether Palace or Brøndby should be given precedence if both end up in next season's Conference League, for example. In ordinary circumstances it would be Brøndby by virtue of their higher league position, as stated in the rules, but Palace could also have a claim if parachuted in from the more prestigious Europa League. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion Uefa's MCO rules have been in place without many revisions for 24 years, although one significant change was made 12 months ago when the regulations were relaxed to permit a club part of a multi-ownership group to compete in a different competition. Article 5 was drafted in 2001 after a legal challenge from Tottenham's owner, Enic, the first multi-club operation in the Premier League, after AEK Athens were blocked from taking part in the 1998-99 Uefa Cup because their sister club Slavia Prague had also qualified. The initial rule stated that 'control or influence' over more than one club was not allowed, but it was not tested until 2017 when RB Leipzig and Red Bull Salzburg qualified for the Champions League, which led to the wording being altered to 'decisive influence'. What had been a rare occurrence is now an annual problem for Uefa, with Aston Villa, Brighton and Toulouse allowed to play in Europe during the 2023-24 season only when their owners put more distance between them and Vitória de Guimarães, Union Saint-Gilloise and Milan respectively. The same issue affected Manchester City and Girona as well as Manchester United and Nice a year later. The fact that neither Girona nor Manchester United joined their partner clubs in qualifying for next season's European competitions may have kicked a further conundrum down the road. Their respective ownership groups were allowed what was, in theory, a short-term exemption last season by placing one of their clubs' shares in a blind trust until 1 July this year. One club owner wonders how Uefa would have responded if those sides had reached the same tournament for a second consecutive year. It is unclear whether they would have been allowed to roll over into a further 12 months of blind trust holding. Multi-club ownership is growing constantly; figures shared with the Guardian by the MCO Insights consultancy suggest more than 800 top- and second-tier clubs could be involved by 2030. That would roughly double the current number. By that point it would surely be uncontrollable by current rules. Simon Leaf, head of sport at the law firm Mishcon de Reya, believes Uefa and other governing bodies need clearer regulations to avoid being repeatedly taken to court. 'We are seeing an increasing number of clubs looking to use various legal avenues – in particular, competition law – to try to challenge regulations that they dislike,' Leaf says. 'This trend is likely to continue, making it much harder for leagues and governing bodies to regulate their competitions. 'On the Palace matter it is hard to have too much sympathy with Uefa given they already showed themselves to be willing to bend their own rules on MCOs last summer – and despite their efforts to strengthen the regulations since then, the bar has now been set. 'Either way, MCOs are not going away, and so football's governing bodies need to find a way to properly deal with these issues so that they are dealt with in the boardroom rather than the courtroom.'
Times
10 hours ago
- Times
Inside Patek Philippe, where watchmaking runs in the family
Coming up with a new watch isn't a nine-to-five job for Thierry Stern, the president of watchmaking house Patek Philippe. It's more of a 24-hour preoccupation. 'I get new ideas when I'm sleeping,' he says. Even though he had to give up being head of the creative division when he took over the leadership role from his father in 2009, he says he's still very hands-on with new timepieces. 'To me, designing's the best part and I don't want to give it up.' Quadruple Complication A showpiece of highly sophisticated micro-engineering, featuring a minute repeater, a tourbillon, an instantaneous perpetual calendar and a split-seconds or rattrapante ('catch up') function, housed in an elegant white gold case. £1,060,000 He's at Watches and Wonders, the international watch fair held in his home town of Geneva, to meet clients and collectors and also keep an eye on what competitors are up to. 'Other watchmaking companies might complain, 'We don't know what to do. Everything has been done,' ' he says. 'But for me, creating new watches is a passion. It's my favourite activity and I'm quite good at it.' Founded in 1839, Patek Philippe is the last remaining family-run haute horlogerie house in Geneva. Thierry is the fourth generation of the Stern family that has run the business since 1932, with his grandfather Henri becoming president in 1958 followed by his father, Philippe, in 1993, now honorary president. The house is renowned for timepieces considered by connoisseurs and collectors to be among the world's finest. They're characterised by a refined and timeless aesthetic as well as trailblazing technical innovations, from chiming minute repeaters to perpetual calendars, which have earned the company more than 100 patents. Cubitus Adding to the handsome 'square with rounded edges' Cubitus family, launched last autumn, are two new relatives with a slightly smaller case size at a versatile 40mm, in rose gold paired with brown and also in white gold with a blue dial. £65,600 As an independent manufacture with everything done in-house — from R&D and creating and engineering all complications to assembly — Patek Philippe benefits from full creative freedom. That's what allows Stern to keep dreaming about bezels and bridges. The creation process begins with a four-strong team. 'We share experiences of travelling, relating feedback from international markets, from retailers and clients,' he says. But mostly, 'We think of new ideas for watches. I always push to the limit — the others are perhaps too respectful to do this; they need me for the edge. Then we imagine if the idea can fit into our collections and whether clients will accept them.' Turning the dream into reality takes a long time. 'We work three years in advance. What you see today we finished a year ago and started the project two years before that. We're now working on watches for 2028.' New-movement projects can take a minimum of 4-5 years, and a supercomplicated calibre 10-12 years. 'The target at Patek is two innovations each year,' Stern says. Projects can span decades. 'There's a clock in the new collection we just unveiled and it's one I started 15 years ago — I had to convince the commercial team and, at the time, my dad — and now I have it.' Calatrava A striking daily wearer, a fresh take on the reference first launched in 1932. Now in platinum, the 38mm piece continues the range's Bauhaus-inspired minimalist aesthetic and its clean, opaline rose-gilt dial delivers a vintage vibe. £40,370 Passing the horological legacy to a new generation is hardwired into the firm. 'You won't be excellent in watchmaking until you have a minimum of ten years' experience. That's what I'm teaching my sons now. I ask them, 'Are you really motivated to work for Patek?' You need the passion, the drive. They have it: my older son, who's 23, is already working with us, then my younger son has to finish school. I tell them they need to learn from the ground up and stay down to earth. That's important. I say, 'You can always ask me, as I learnt from my father and grandfather.' ' Keeping it in the family is the secret to Patek's success, Stern maintains. 'It helps in times of decision making — there's no one pushing me,' he adds. 'There are no shareholders to please. It's a chess game. I have my plans.'
