History of the Creation of a New Generation of Antibiotics of the Group of Polycyclic Glycopeptides

Increased resistance to polycyclic glycopeptide antibiotics has become a serious problem for chemotherapy of infections caused by resistant Gram-positive bacteria. Chemical modification of known natural antibiotics is the main direction in the creation of the next generation of anti-infective drugs. Over the past two decades, a series of hydrophobic glycopeptide analogues active against resistant strains of Gram-positive bacteria have been developed, three of which—oritavancin, telavancin, and dalbavancin—were approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2013–2014 for the treatment of infections caused by sensitive and resistant strains of staphylococci and enterococci. It has been established that hydrophobic derivatives of glycopeptides can act on resistant strains of bacteria by a mechanism that does not allow binding to the modified target of resistant bacteria. Understanding the mechanism of action of natural and modified glycopeptides is considered as the basis for the rational design of compounds with valuable properties to achieve fundamental results. The possibility of using semi-synthetic glycopeptide analogues in the fight against viral infections caused by enveloped viruses is also considered. This review outlines the main ways of chemical design in creating a new generation of glycopeptide antibiotics that overcome resistance to Gram-positive pathogens and the mechanisms of their action.