Zyvox Approved to Combat Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria

[Guest guest]

Zyvox™ Approved to Combat Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria

K. Borchardt27 April 2000

Doctors are growing desperate for new treatments as older antibiotics lose their power against bacteria that have adapted to resist even the strongest drugs such as vanomycin and methicillin. A new antibiotic with the power to kill bacteria resistant to other drugs has just won approval from the US Food and Drug Administration. The FDA has approved Zyvox, made by Pharmacia Corporation, for use against certain types of pneumonia and skin and bloodstream infections. Those infections include ones caused by enterococcus bacteria that resist vancomycin, until now the last line of defence against some virulent bacteria, and staph infections that resist methicillin. Pharmacia officials hope doctors will use Zyvox as a first-choice treatment for serious infections in the sickest hospitalised patients. The FDA has approved Zyvox for intravenous (IV), tablets and oral suspension treatments. So doctors can start treatment in the hospital and allow patients to finish treatment at home. Zyvox tablets are 100% bioavailable so physicians can use the IV and tablet forms interchangeably without making a dose adjustment. The ability to complete treatment with an oral formulation may enable some patients to leave the hospital sooner. Zyvox, known generically as linezolid, is a member of the first completely new class of antibiotics in thirty-five years, the oxazolidinones. Zyvox works differently from older antibiotics. It stops bacteria from multiplying by halting production of proteins vital to their growth early in their life cycle. Other antibiotics stop germs' spread later in their life cycle. "Zyvox has a profile that makes it truly unique. It represents an important discovery in the treatment of Gram-positive infections," said Moellering, MD, Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School. Another advantage may be that Zyvox is made synthetically. Antibiotics in the past were developed naturally, which made it easier for bacteria to outwit them. "Zyvox is a synthetic compound, so that means bugs have never seen it before," said Dr Cameron Durrant, Pharmacia's vice president for infectious diseases. "We're very confident the likelihood of developing resistance [to Zyvox] is low." Clinical studies involving more than 4,000 patients, treated primarily in the hospital, have shown that Zyvox is effective in treating infections caused by Gram-positive bacteria, including some resistant to other antibiotics. Zyvox is generally well tolerated. Adverse events reported for patients receiving Zyvox and comparators in clinical trials were similar. The most common events for patients treated with Zyvox were diarrhoea (8.3%), headache (6.5%), nausea (6.2%) and vomiting (3.7%). These events were usually mild to moderate in intensity and limited in duration. As part of a European filing strategy, a market authorisation application for Zyvox was submitted to the UK Medicines Control Agency in November 1999. Applications are also being submitted throughout Asia and Latin America.

Related Alchemist stories: Empowering Penicillin - 3 April 2000 Resisting Resistance - 7 January 2000 Synthetic Superheroes - Spotlight - 23 August 1999 Quest for Superdrugs to kill Superbugs - 18 August 1999

Related website: Pharmacia Corporation

Chemweb.com search results: oxazolidinone and antibiotics

The Alchemist copyright © 1997-2000 ChemWeb Inc.All rights reserved