Fifty years ago, researchers from Beecham Pharmaceuticals reported on the structure of clavulanic acid. Itself only a weak antibiotic, clavulanic acid inhibits serine β-lactamases and thus this work pioneered combination therapy to protect antibiotics against the development of resistance.
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A.V. S. was an employee of Beecham Pharmaceuticals, later Smith Kline Beecham, 1978–1991. C.J.S. declares no competing interests.
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Stachulski, A.V., Schofield, C.J. Small but powerful. Nat Rev Chem 9, 807–808 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41570-025-00772-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41570-025-00772-w
