We've written about Intralytix, NovaBay, and Polymedix—companies developing drugs designed to circumvent the growing problem of antibiotic resistance. Now a hot-off-the-presses study from Nature suggests that anti-inflammatory drugs may prove ideal for treating tuberculosis—one of the most intractable bacterial diseases on the planet.

Instead of actively killing TB bacteria, the Johns Hopkins scientists who conducted the Nature study focused on reducing inflammation post-infection, which apparently hinders progression of the disease. A non-aggressive approach to controlling bacterial infection might seem like a contradiction in terms, but hey, if it works, I'll take it.