US researchers reported that the 'Trojan horse' antibiotic cefiderocol was non-toxic and effective against a highly resistant strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in an experimental model of keratitis.

Dr Eric Romanowski from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and his team tested cefiderocol – a relatively new antibiotic termed a Trojan horse due to its mechanism of entering bacteria – on bacterial isolates from contaminated EzriCare Artificial Tears and Delsam Pharma Artificial Tears following the 2023 outbreak which caused one death and five cases of vision loss. He found the strain of P. aeruginosa was susceptible to the antibiotic, which was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2019 as a treatment for complicated urinary tract infections but had not been tested as an eye drop.

Dr Romanowski said he would like to see further development of this antibiotic, adding, "It would be up to any individual clinician to determine whether to use this antibiotic in an emergency situation."