Multitarget ligands in antibacterial research: progress and opportunities

Introduction: Resistance to current antibacterial therapies is an inevitability that represents a significant global health concern. Bacteria have the capacity to render all current drug treatments ineffective, which places a demand on the drug discovery community to constantly develop new antibacterial agents. Compounds that inhibit multiple biological targets, often referred to as multitarget ligands, are an inviting prospect in antibacterial research because, although they will not solve the issue of resistance, they might help to delay the onset. Areas covered: This review covers some of the recent progress in identifying new ligands that deliberately interact with more than one essential biological target in bacteria. The two principal areas covered are inhibitors of DNA replication and cell wall biosynthesis. Expert opinion: Antibacterial programs for the design of multitarget ligands present an important opportunity for production of antibacterial agents. Their longevity, due to slow development of...