Study shows a widely used antifungal drug works only when its target enzyme is active

Serious fungal infections are on the rise, and many hospital-acquired cases are becoming harder to treat as fungi become resistant to available medications. One of the most widely used therapies, caspofungin, combats Candida infections that can turn deadly in people with weakened immune systems. Despite the drug's importance, scientists have never fully understood how it works at the molecular level—or why it sometimes stops working.