Anti‐infective Agents: The Example of Antibacterial Drug Leads

Infectious bacterial diseases remain an important worldwide problem, not only due to expanding antibiotic resistance but also the substantial decrease in novel anti‐infective agents reaching clinical development during the last few decades. Natural products, either as pure compounds or as standardized plant extracts, may provide unlimited opportunities for new antibacterial drug leads because of the unmatched availability of chemical diversity. Research on new plant‐based antibacterial agents should shift from the typical bacteriostatic or bactericidal activities to antivirulence or resistance‐modifying activities. For this, a number of pivotal quality standards need to be set at the level of bioassays and evaluation criteria.