Cempra has announced positive results from a trial that showed solithromycin to be of similar efficacy to moxifloxacin for the treatment of community-acquired bacterial pneumonia.
“Pneumonia is still the number eight [cause of] mortality in the United States and other developed countries, so it’s not a small problem,” Carlos M. Barrera, MD, said in an interview with Infectious Disease News. “Resistance problems among antibiotics is something that is getting worse over time — it’s an inevitable process. To have a new antibiotic with no resistance … it’s an important addition to the armamentarium of the physician.”
A total of 860 adult patients with pneumonia from 114 healthcare centers worldwide participated in the trial.Participants received either once-daily oral moxifloxacin for 7 days, or once-daily oral solithromycin for 5 days, followed by a placebo for an additional 2 days. The main study measurement was early clinical response based on pneumonia symptoms.
A total of 78.2 percent patients in the solithromycin group, and 77.9 percent patients in the moxifloxacin group, experienced early clinical response. The researchers concluded that both treatments were equally effective based on these results.
Drug safety was also similar for the two medications, with 10 percent of the solithromycin group and 13 percent of the moxifloxacin group reporting mild side effects due to medication, typically gastrointestinal problems or headache and dizziness.
One advantage of solithromycin may be that it can target a large variety of bacterial strains, according to Barrera.
