A new antibiotic that targets the common causes of urinary tract infections has proven highly successful in clinical trials, prompting researchers to halt the studies and apply for federal drug approval.
Gepotidacin is a member of a new class of antibiotics. The new drug is active against most strains of Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria and Staphylococcus saprophyticus (S. saprophyticus), two top causes of UTIs.
In the clinical trials, gepotidacin equaled the efficacy of nitrofurantoin in treating uncomplicated UTIs (uUTIs), investigators reported. Nitrofurantoin is a first-line drug recommended to combat UTIs in older nursing home residents.
If greenlit by the Food and Drug Administration to treat uUTIs, gepotidacin would be the first new oral antibiotic approved for this purpose in 20 years, according to drugmaker GSK. Approximately 20% in women aged 65 years and older develop these infections, and 30% to 44% of uUTI episodes overall are recurrent, the company noted.
E. coli has become increasingly resistant to currently available antibiotics. This leaves clinicians with fewer oral options to treat their patients, GSK said in a statement. “As a result, there is a need to develop new oral antibiotics that may help treat uUTIs and potentially combat antimicrobial resistance in the community,” it stated.
Needed now?
The introduction of a new antibiotic may be a welcome event to clinicians faced with the growing challenge of antibiotic resistant infections, some experts said. But others said that in the case of uUTIs, there are plenty of first-line options already available.
“What is significant about this antibiotic is that it is a member of a new class of antibiotics and there is a dire need for new classes of antibiotics to be developed,” Amesh Adalja, MD, of the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security told CIDRAP News.
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