New Antibiotic Treats Pneumonia and Skin Infections

A new antibiotic weapon treats community-acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP) and acute bacterial skin and skin-structure infections (ABSSSI), including the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

Ceftaroline fosamil is fifth-generation cephalosporin, known commercially as Teflaro. It retains the activity of later generation cephalosporins, having broad-spectrum activity against Gram-negative bacteria, and works by inhibiting bacterial peptidoglycan synthesis by binding the penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) in the bacterial cell wall. Inhibition of PBPs leads to irregularities in cell wall structures, such as elongation, lesions, loss of selective permeability, and eventual cell death and lysis. In particular, ceftaroline can effectively bind to and inhibit PBP-2a, the PBP produced by MRSA, which is not well inhibited by other antibiotics currently in clinical use. Teflaro is a product of Forest Laboratories (New York, NY, USA), which holds the worldwide rights to the product, apart from Japan, where the rights are held by Takeda Pharmaceuticals (Tokyo, Japan).

"Forest recognizes the enormous burden of disease associated with community-acquired bacterial pneumonia and acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections, and we are extremely pleased to see that our first product in this category has obtained approval for both of these disease indications,” said Dirk Thye, President of Cerexa (Oakland, CA, USA), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Forest Laboratories. "We eagerly anticipate the commercial launch of Teflaro and remain committed to bringing additional new treatments to market that target infectious diseases.”

MRSA, also be called multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or oxacillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (ORSA), is by definition any strain of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria that has developed resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics, which include the penicillins (methicillin, dicloxacillin, nafcillin, oxacillin, etc.) and the cephalosporins. MRSA is especially troublesome in hospitals where patients with open wounds, invasive devices, and weakened immune systems are at greater risk of infection than the general public.

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Forest Laboratories
Takeda Pharmaceuticals