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CIDRAP NEWS SCAN- Highest-priority antibiotics; New antibiotic tests well

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  • CIDRAP NEWS SCAN- Highest-priority antibiotics; New antibiotic tests well

    Source: http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-persp...an-jul-21-2016


    News Scan for Jul 21, 2016
    Highest-priority antibiotics; New antibiotic tests well

    Filed Under:
    Antimicrobial Stewardship; Pneumonia
    WHO ranks antibiotics for stewardship efforts

    Carbapenems, penicillins, quinolones, macrolides and ketolides, and the newest cephalosporins were among the antibiotics that a World Health Organization (WHO) expert panel yesterday rated as "critically important" for human medicine of highest priority in limiting their use in food animals to combat resistance to the drugs.
    The WHO advisory group's latest update of the list appeared in Clinical Infectious Diseases. It was first developed in 2005 and updated about every 2 year since then, most recently in 2013.
    "The updated ranking allows stakeholders in the agriculture sector and regulatory agencies to focus risk management efforts on drugs used in food animals that are the most important to human medicine," the authors said.
    "In particular, the current large scale use of fluoroquinolones, macrolides, third generation cephalosporins and any potential use of glycopeptides and carbapenems needs to be addressed urgently."
    The complete list of antibiotics deemed critical to human health is: aminoglycosides, ansamycins, carbapenems and other penems, third- and fourth-generation cephalosporins, phosphonic acid derivatives, glycopeptides, glycylcyclines, lipopeptides, macrolides and ketolides, monobactams, oxazolidinones, penicillins (natural, aminopenicillins, and antipseudomonal), polymyxins, quinolones, and drugs solely used to treat tuberculosis and other mycobacterial diseases.
    Phosphonic acid derivatives, monobactams, and polymyxins are new to the list because of their greater importance for treating multi-resistant gram-negative bacteria. Streptogramins, on the other hand, were bumped from the critically important list to the next level?highly important?because more effective antimicrobials with fewer side effects are now available to treat gram-positive infections, the experts said.
    Jul 20 Clin Infect Dis abstract

    New antibiotic performs well against hospital pneumonia in phase 3 trial

    London-based drug company AstraZeneca today announced that Zavicefta, its new combination antibiotic for treating a spectrum of serious gram-negative infections, performed well in a phase 3 trial against hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP), including infections tied to ventilator use.
    The intravenous drug is a combination of third-generation cephalosporin drug ceftazidime and the broad-spectrum beta-lactamase inhibitor avibactam. It was found to be statistically non-inferior to meropenem, a carbapenem antibiotic, in the REPROVE trial, which involved 879 HAP patients in 23 countries, the company said in a news release. Results were comparable between the two drugs for both cure rates at 21 days and all-cause mortality at 28 days.
    Safety profiles were similar for both Zavicefta and meropenem. Full results from the REPROVE trial are expected to be presented at future scientific meetings, the company said.
    Hans Sijbesma, managing director of AstraZeneca's Antibiotics Business Unit, said, "The positive results from this important phase 3 trial validate our science-led approach and confirm the effectiveness of Zavicefta in treating hospital-acquired pneumonia, providing patients and physicians with a much-needed new treatment option in the fight against antibiotic-resistant pathogens."
    The European Commission approved the drug on Jun 24 for intravenous use in treating adults who have HAP.
    Jul 21 AstraZeneca press release



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