The research, conducted at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, is focused on molecular targets or virulence factors that bacteria use to thrive once they are in the host.

"We have developed the first inhibitor of a key small molecule from Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium leprae (which causes leprosy), utilized to subvert human host's defenses and damage and invade human host's cells during infection," senior author Dr. Luis Quadri said Thursday in a release.

The report, published online in the journal Chemistry and Biology, said infectious disease research is moving beyond anti-microbials such as antibiotics to anti-infectives that compromise a pathogen's ability to infect and spread in the host.