She pressed the remote, and the original slide with the circle of blue and purple streaks reappeared. “Today there are numerous other superbugs, but MRSA is the single most prevalent. Up until now, the only treatment available for MRSA involved expensive and potentially toxic intravenous medications, usually requiring hospital admission, thereby risking further spread.” She shook her head. “Aside from the immeasurable human cost, the annual expense of dealing with MRSA is estimated to be from six to eight billion dollars in the U.S. alone.”

Horton shifted from foot to foot, suddenly aware that all the eyes in the room were on her. “But SeptoMed might be able to forever alter that landscape,” she said, flushing as she spoke the painfully rehearsed lines Martineau had insisted on. She pressed the button. An organic chemical formula filled the screen, complete with chains and dashes linking Cs, Os, and Hs. “Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce Oraloxin.

“Oraloxin represents a brand-new class of antibiotics which we’ve termed membrocidals.” She advanced to the next slide, which showed a spherical bacterium occupying most of the screen. “This is a single MRSA cell. Note the thickness of the cell wall, which is the bacterial equivalent of a coat of armor.” From the side of the screen an animated V-shaped structure swooped toward the cell and dug into the cell wall like an angry hornet. “This model simulates what happens when a molecule of Oraloxin binds to the bacterial cell wall.” As the “V” penetrated deeper, the cell began to fissure, like an egg cracking in slow motion. Then the two halves separated and the cell’s contents spewed out. The rest of the cell suddenly deflated like a balloon popping.

“In clinical testing, Oraloxin has shown remarkable effectiveness in combating MRSA,” Horton said, her tone somewhere between pride and self-consciousness. “With one-hundred-percent sensitivity. In other words, all MRSA infections have been susceptible to the medication thus far. And not just MRSA. Oraloxin performed equally well against other bacteria, even a multiresistant form of staph aureus that we genetically engineered in our lab.”

Horton flushed again as she heard the grumbling of approval from around the table. She cleared her throat, forcing to herself to pause before delivering the punch line. “Unlike most other MRSA treatments, no blood testing is required with Oraloxin.” She took a deep breath. “But I believe the most promising feature is the drug’s mode of delivery. It can be given as a once-daily, five-hundred-milligram pill for ten to fourteen days. In other words, Oraloxin represents the first outpatient and oral treatment available for MRSA.”

Horton clicked a button and the screen went white. She ran her prerehearsed closing line through her head before speaking it aloud. “Oraloxin is not only a powerful and brand-new weapon in the struggle against MRSA, but it will help keep the infection out of the hospital where it wreaks most of its havoc.” She exhaled slowly. “Thank you for your attention.”