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Researchers at at an Australian university have developed a new form of antibiotic that can be swiftly re-engineered to avoid resistance to dangerous superbugs. The antibiotic, which was developed by PhD candidate Priscila Cardoso and major supervisor Dr Celine Valery from RMIT's School of Health and Biosciences, has a basic architecture that allows it to be generated quickly and cheaply in a lab. The antibiotic, Priscilicidin, has tiny amino acid building blocks that allow it to be tailored to combat various types of antimicrobial resistance. With the World Health Organization calling antimicrobial resistance "one of the top ten global public health threats facing humanity", developing new antibiotics has become more urgent than ever. Professor Charlotte Conn, one of Cardoso's PhD supervisors, said given that urgency, Priscilicidin was an exciting breakthrough for public health. Priscilicidin is a type of antimicrobial peptide. These peptides are produced by all living organisms as the first defence against bacteria and viruses.

The current structure of global incentives to develop new antibiotics is insufficient and requires urgent resolution revealed a new report 'Incentivising new antibiotics' by the Office of Health Economics (OHE). OHE analysis demonstrates that on a global level, it is estimated that an effective 10-year incentive would require £3.5bn ($4.2bn) to adequately cover the entire research and development process for a new antibiotic. The report considers how health systems in the UK and around the world can stimulate the research and development (R&D) of new antibiotics. In 2020, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and NHS England initiated an Antimicrobial Resistance pilot with the aim of incentivising pharmaceutical companies to develop new antibiotics by addressing the issues associated with reimbursement, which historically has deterred companies from pursuing AMR research.