--- title: Scientists Develop Drug to Replace Antibiotics description: New medicine effective against superbugs canonical: https://time.com/3560432/alternative-drug-replace-antibiotics/ author: Naina Bajekal article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-06T12:29:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T11:15:54.445Z article:section: Health og:title: Scientists develop a new alternative to antibiotics og:description: New medicine effective against superbugs og:url: https://time.com/3560432/alternative-drug-replace-antibiotics/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Scientists develop a new alternative to antibiotics twitter:description: New medicine effective against superbugs twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Scientists Develop Drug to Replace Antibiotics > Sponsored content. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators.  by [Naina Bajekal](https://time.com/author/naina-bajekal/)  ## Naina Bajekal Bajekal was executive editor and international editor at TIME. Nov 6, 2014 12:29 PM UTC  by [Naina Bajekal](https://time.com/author/naina-bajekal/)  ## Naina Bajekal Bajekal was executive editor and international editor at TIME. Nov 6, 2014 12:29 PM UTC Scientists have created the first antibiotic-free drug to treat bacterial infections in a major development in combatting drug-resistance, according to [_The Times_](http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/science/article4259018.ece)_._ A small patient trial showed that the new treatment was effective at eradicating the MRSA superbug which is resistant to most antibiotics. The drug is already available as a cream for skin infections and researchers hope to create a pill or an injectable version of it in the next five years. Antibiotics have been one of the most important drugs since the invention of penicillin almost 90 years ago. But the World Health Organization [has repeatedly warned](http://www.who.int/drugresistance/en/) of the threat of antimicrobial resistance, saying “a post-antibiotic era – in which common infections and minor injuries can kill” is a very real possibility in the 21st century. But scientists say this new technology is less prone to resistance than antibiotics because the treatment attacks infections in a completely different way. The treatment uses enzymes called endolysins — naturally occurring viruses that attack certain bacterial species but leave beneficial microbes alone. Mark Offerhaus, the Chief Executive of the Dutch biotech firm Micreos which is leading the research, said the development of the new drug marks “a new era in the fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria”, adding that millions of people stand to benefit from this. \[[_The Times_](http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/science/article4259018.ece)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3560432/alternative-drug-replace-antibiotics/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3560432/alternative-drug-replace-antibiotics/"},"headline":"Scientists Develop Drug to Replace Antibiotics","datePublished":"2014-11-06T12:29:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T11:15:54.445Z","description":"New medicine effective against superbugs","url":"https://time.com/3560432/alternative-drug-replace-antibiotics/","keywords":["medicine","Research","antibiotics","mrsa"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Naina Bajekal","jobTitle":"Bajekal was executive editor and international editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/naina-bajekal/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3560432/alternative-drug-replace-antibiotics/","name":"Scientists Develop Drug to Replace Antibiotics"}}]}] ```