Oritavancin for the treatment of skin and soft tissue infections
For the treatment of skin and soft tissue infections requiring intravenous therapy, a single dose of oritavancin is as effective as a 7-10 day course of vancomycin.
For the treatment of skin and soft tissue infections requiring intravenous therapy, a dose of oritavancin is as effective as a 7-10 day course of vancomycin - these data were presented at the 53rd Interdisciplinary Drug Conference antimicrobials and chemotherapy (53rd Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy - ICAAC) by scientists from the Duke Clinical Research Institute, Durham, North Carolina, USA). Oritavancin is also effective against methicillin-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
Ease of use of oritavancin may be an attractive option for patients, as they will not need to be hospitalized or undergo weekly or even longer intravenous therapy. Patients can receive an IV infusion for 3 hours and then go home, which is very convenient.
In addition, reducing the use of intravenous catheters can also reduce the risk of developing infection and a number of other complications.
Oritavancin is a testable antibiotic from the lipoglycopeptide group which was developed by the international pharmaceutical company Medicines Company. Oriavancin is characterized by a long half-life and a rapidly developing bactericidal action against Gram-positive pathogens, including MRSA, and is therefore a candidate for a single injection.
Researchers randomized adult patients with acute bacterial skin and soft tissue infections who needed intravenous antibiotic therapy to receive a 1200 mg dose of oritavancin once or vancomycin for 7-10 days.
The initial efficacy assessment was performed 48 to 72 hours after administration of oritavancin or the first dose of vancomycin and was considered the primary endpoint for efficacy. Researchers assessed halting the spread or decreasing the size of the main lesion, the absence of fever, and the lack of a life-saving antibiotic. The researchers performed a separate analysis of the patients in whom the infection was caused by MRSA. Efficacy was found to be comparable across all groups.
The overall incidence of adverse events (AE) was comparable in the two groups. Thus, 60% of patients in the oritavancin group reported at least 1 AE, in the group of vancomycin AEs were observed in 63.8% of patients.
In the oritavancin group, slightly fewer AEs occurred during treatment compared to the vancomycin group (22.8% of vs patients 31.4%, p = 0.003). Also in the oritavancin group, there was less AE in the skin and subcutaneous tissue (11.6% vs 19.1%; p = 0.001).
Researchers note that they are really concerned about the safety of oritavancin because they don't know what could happen if the patient reacted to the drug and it remained in the body for the next 2 months. But it turned out that the fears were premature - the drug tolerance and safety profile were very good.