Swiss drugmaker Roche announced on Monday its plans to progress testing of an antibiotic designed to combat a common drug-resistant bacteria responsible for causing severe hospital infections into the final phase of testing on human subjects.

The company revealed that the experimental antibiotic, known as zosurabalpin and developed in collaboration with Harvard University, will undergo trials specifically targeting acinetobacter baumannii, leveraging a novel mechanism of action to which bacteria have not yet developed resistance.

Roche highlighted that drug-resistant strains of acinetobacter are widespread globally, posing a significant burden on hospitalized patients and leading to critical conditions such as pneumonia and sepsis.