US FDA Approves New Antibacterial Drug Fetroja (cefiderocol) To Treat Complicated Urinary Tract Infections
Source: Thailand Medical News Nov 20, 2019 4 years, 5 months, 5 days, 15 hours, 13 minutes ago
The US FDA (Food and Drug Administration ) has approved
Fetroja (
cefiderocol), an antibacterial drug for treatment of patients 18 years of age or older with
complicated urinary tract infections (
cUTI), including kidney infections caused by susceptible Gram-negative microorganisms, who have limited or no alternative treatment options.
Dr John Farley, acting director of the Office of Infectious Diseases in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research told
Thailand Medical News “The approval provides an additional treatment option for patients with
cUTIs who have limited or no alternative treatment options. A key global challenge the FDA faces as a public health agency is addressing the threat of antimicrobial-resistant infections, like
cUTIs. This approval represents another step forward in the FDA’s overall efforts to ensure safe and effective antimicrobial drugs are available to patients for treating infections.”
The effectiveness and safety of
Fetroja was demonstrated in a study of 448 patients with
cUTIs. Of the patients who were administered
Fetroja, 72.6% had resolution of symptoms and eradication of the bacteria approximately seven days after completing treatment, compared with 54.6% in patients who received an alternative antibiotic. The clinical response rates were similar between the two treatment groups.
The approved labeling for
Fetroja includes a warning regarding the higher all-cause mortality rate observed in
Fetroja-treated patients compared to those treated with other antibiotics in a trial in critically ill patients with multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacterial infections. The cause of the increase in mortality has not been established. Some of the deaths were a result of worsening or complications of infection, or underlying co-morbidities. The higher all-cause mortality rate was observed in patients treated for hospital-acquired/ventilator-associated pneumonia (i.e.nosocomial pneumonia), bloodstream infections, or sepsis. The safety and efficacy of
Fetroja has not been established for the treatment of these types of infections.
Common adverse reactions observed in patients treated with
Fetroja included diarrhea, constipation, nausea, vomiting, elevations in liver tests, rash, infusion site reactions, candidiasis (yeast infection), cough, headache and hypokalemia (low potassium).
Fetroja should not be used in individuals with a known history of severe hypersensitivity to beta-lactam antibacterial
drugs.
Fetroja received the FDA’s Qualified Infectious Disease Product (QIDP) designation. The QIDP designation is given to antibacterial and antifungal drug products intended to treat serious or life-threatening infections under the Generating Antibiotic Incentives Now (GAIN) title of the FDA Safety and Innovation Act. As part of QIDP designation,
Fetroja was granted Priority Review under which the FDA’s goal i
s to take action on an application within an expedited time frame.
The FDA granted the approval of
Fetroja to
Shionogi & Co., Ltd.
Fetroja is only expected to be available in the Asian, South American and European markets only in mid 2020 after regulatory approvals in key markets there.
