Teixobactin
The 2015 soil-bacterium antibiotic that kills Gram-positive pathogens without detectable resistance by binding lipid II and lipid III. Still preclinical.
Teixobactin is a cyclic depsipeptide antibiotic discovered in 2015 by growing previously unculturable soil bacteria with iChip technology. It binds lipid II and lipid III, blocking both peptidoglycan and teichoic-acid synthesis, and kills Gram-positive pathogens and Mycobacterium tuberculosis, including drug-resistant strains, without detectable resistance emerging (2022 review). It has not been tested in people.
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Recommended Dosing
No dosing data yet
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Mechanism of action
Binds the highly conserved cell-wall precursors lipid II and lipid III at the same time, inhibiting both peptidoglycan and teichoic-acid synthesis; because the targets are not proteins, resistance is considered hard to evolve (2022 review).
Primary uses
- Preclinical antibiotic lead
- Template for synthetic analogues
Typical dosing
No human dose: it has been studied only in the laboratory and in animals.
Regulatory status
Not approved and not in human trials: Drugs@FDA, the EMA medicines list and ClinicalTrials.gov hold no record (searched October 28, 2026). Work since 2015 is synthesis and analogue design.
Status as of this entry's last review, October 28, 2026. Approvals, compounding rules and sport rules change; the regulatory tracker is checked more often.
What we checked
Teixobactin is a celebrated preclinical antibiotic; this section records what can be checked.
Identity, computed
| Formula | C58H95N15O15 (PubChem CID 86341926) |
| Molecular weight | 1242.5 g/mol (PubChem) |
| Structure | a cyclic depsipeptide containing the rare amino acid L-allo-enduracididine (2022 review) |
Its rare residues are outside a residue calculator, so the formula and weight are PubChem's.
Regulatory status, read October 28, 2026
Drugs@FDA: 0 records for “teixobactin”. EMA medicines list: 0 records for “teixobactin”. Run for semaglutide, the same queries return 6 and 5 records (and the registry search 85 trials), so a zero here is an absence, not a broken search. Not named on the WADA 2026 and 2027 Prohibited Lists. As a substance with no current approval for human therapeutic use, it falls under section S0 (non-approved substances), which is prohibited at all times; the lists were read on October 28, 2026.
What the studies show
A 2022 review covers its discovery, mechanism, total synthesis and analogues (Qi et al., 2022); structure-activity work maps which residues it needs (Karas et al., 2020).
What we looked for and did not find
No human study, no registry record and no approval.
| Source | Query | Results, October 28, 2026 | What it was |
|---|---|---|---|
| PubMed | teixobactin[tiab] | 123 | |
| ClinicalTrials.gov | teixobactin | 0 | |
| Drugs@FDA (openFDA) | teixobactin | 0 | |
| EMA medicines list | teixobactin | 0 |
References
- [other] PubChem CID 86341926, Teixobactin: formula C58H95N15O15, molecular weight 1242.5. Read October 28, 2026. https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/86341926
- [review] Qi YK, et al. "Discovery, synthesis, and optimization of teixobactin, a novel antibiotic without detectable bacterial resistance." J Pept Sci, 2022;28(11):e3428. PMID: 35610021.
- [pubmed] Karas JA, et al. "Synthesis and structure-activity relationships of teixobactin." Ann N Y Acad Sci, 2020;1459(1):86-105. PMID: 31792983.
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Guides & tools
This entry is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Dosing information reflects published regulatory or research data and is not a recommendation. Many compounds described here are not approved for human use in the United States. Consult a licensed medical professional before considering any peptide therapy.