KITE & KEY MEDIA: Antibiotics have been one of humanity’s most powerful tools in the fight against infectious disease. But there’s a pretty big catch.

Can a prescription drug be too effective? In the case of antibiotics, the answer could be yes. Since their discovery in the early 20th century, antibiotics have saved millions of lives. And they’ve made things like childbirth, cancer treatments, and surgeries much safer. But here’s the catch: They’ve also unleashed a wave of superbugs. As antibiotics kill off vulnerable microbes, the remaining population evolves to be more resistant to the drugs. By 2019, superbugs killed more people worldwide than HIV/AIDS or malaria. And by 2050, deaths from drug-resistant infections are projected to be 70% higher than they were in 2022. What can we do about this? One step: use antibiotics more carefully. The more antibiotics are used, the faster resistance evolves. And the CDC reports that at least 28% of antibiotic prescriptions in outpatient settings are unnecessary. But another big piece of the puzzle is innovation. While scientists have created variations on existing drugs, no new class of antibiotics has been introduced since 1987. In 2025, however, Canadian researchers discovered a new class of antibiotics that attack bacteria in a manner different from any existing drugs. Take that, superbugs.

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