MRSA: deadly superbug: despite health systems beset with deadly drug-resistant MRSA, there is only one new antibiotic in late-stage development.(Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus)(Cover Story)

You cannot open a paper today without reading about Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)--hospital wards closing, patients dying and, most recently, its association with a deadly flesh-eating condition (see Box below).

The irony is that this deadly bug is a strain of a relatively common bacterium that resides on the skin or in the nose of about a third of the population. S aureus causes boils and pimples that are easily treated with antibiotics, But MRSA is a strain of the bug that is resistant to methicillin and other antibiotics, including penicillin, amoxicillin, erythromycin and ciprofloxacin. This is a big problem if the bug finds its way into the lungs or bloodstream, where it can cause serious and progressive systemic infections, such as pneumonia and septacaemia.

In the most extreme cases, doctors used to turn to the antibiotic vancomycin, until recently considered the antibiotic of last resort, to clear the infection. But vancomycin-resistant strains have been uncovered around the world. 'My guess is that in about five years time ... vancomycin will be dead,' says Khalid Islam. CEO of Swiss antibacterial firm Arpida. 'And that is extremely frightening.'

So where is the new generation of super antibiotics to combat the superbugs? Well there is none. Currently, there is only one new antibiotic in phase III trials. And while companies are coming up with new drugs with novel models of action. MRSA is already …