Antibiotic resistance is increasingly undermining modern medicine, making once-routine infections and medical procedures far more dangerous. To address the shrinking pipeline of new antibiotics, researchers at the University of York, led by Angelo Frei, developed a high-throughput, automated approach to discover new drug candidates.
Using robotic “click” chemistry, the team rapidly synthesized and screened hundreds of three-dimensional metal-based compounds—an underexplored alternative to traditional flat, carbon-based antibiotics. From 672 metal complexes tested, six showed promising antibacterial activity with low toxicity in human cells. One iridium-based compound in particular was highly effective against bacteria while remaining non-toxic.
Published in Nature Communications, the study demonstrates not just a potential new antibiotic, but a fast and scalable method for exploring vast chemical space. The researchers argue this approach could reinvigorate antibiotic discovery and challenge the assumption that metal-based drugs are inherently too toxic, helping prevent a future where common infections become untreatable.