Mycobacterium abscessus has been recognised as a dreadful respiratory pathogen 
among the non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) because of misdiagnosis, prolonged 
therapy with poor treatment outcomes and a high cost. This pathogen also shows 
extremely high antimicrobial resistance against current antibiotics, including 
the anti-tuberculosis agents. Therefore, current chemotherapies require a long 
curative period and the clinical outcomes are not satisfactory. Thus, there is 
an urgent need for discovering and developing novel, more effective anti-M. 
abscessus drugs. In this review, we sum the effectiveness of the current anti-M. 
abscessus drugs and drug candidates. Furthermore, we describe the shortcomings 
and difficulties associated with M. abscessus drug discovery and development.