Health
First of new antibiotic class gets FDA review
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted March 6, 2006
The Food and Drug Administration has begun analyzing data on retapamulin, the first in the pleuromutilins class of antibiotics, according to a February statement by GlaxoSmithKline.
The company submitted a new drug application in November 2005 for this topical antibiotic asking it to be approved for skin infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes. It's intended to be used twice daily for five days, and GSK expects approval later this year.
Infectious disease experts long have complained that far too few antibiotics are in development and, with many organisms developing resistance to those that are currently available, the result is that not enough new ones are coming down the pike to replace those that are no longer useful.
"Continued widespread use of antibiotics has promoted the spread of antibiotic resistance and has created an urgent need for antibacterial agents with no known cross resistance," the company wrote.
Trials have suggested that this drug has a low likelihood of engendering resistance.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2006/03/06/hlbf0306.htm.
