New drugs against multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria: a systematic review of patents

Antimicrobial resistance has been a threat to human health ever since the accelerated consumption of antibiotics began. The present systematic review was carried out using a free and specialized online database – Espacenet – and a survey for patents of antimicrobial agents from 2010 to 2021, selecting 33 recent patents that claimed compounds with antimicrobial activity against resistant strains of Gram-negative bacteria. Some different and new approaches to the development of the patented antibacterial agents were identified, such as antimicrobial peptides, nanomaterials and natural extracts. Some alternatives to modern antibiotics with diminished effectiveness due to antimicrobial resistance were spotted. Nevertheless, many challenges remain to establish a robust and sustainable antibacterial R&D pipeline.