The rapid spreading of resistance against all currently used
anti-infective agents in pathogenic bacteria, fungi, and protozoa
is one of the most dramatic, but still widely underestimated
medical problems worldwide. Without the rapid deployment of
novel anti-infective agents, a rapid and massive increase in
morbidity and mortality due to infective disease is imminent
not only in the developing world, but also in industrialized
countries.1-4
This could reverse the steady increase in life
expectancy that has occurred over the past decades5
and result
in major socioeconomic changes of a global nature. However,
the development of novel antiinfective drugs is presently not a
high priority of major pharmaceutical companies.6
The majority of presently used antibiotics interfere with the
biosynthesis of macromolecular constituents of microbial patho