ZEMDRI™ (Plazomicin) Approved by FDA for the Treatment of Adults with cUTI
In a press release published yesterday, the biopharma company developing and commercializing antibacterial agents against antimicrobial resistance Achaogen, announced the release of a new drug for complicated urinary tract infections in adults. Read an excerpt below.
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., June 26, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Achaogen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAO), a biopharmaceutical company developing and commercializing innovative antibacterial agents to address multidrug resistant (MDR) gram-negative infections, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved ZEMDRI™ (plazomicin) for adults with complicated urinary tract infections (cUTI), including pyelonephritis, caused by certain Enterobacteriaceae in patients who have limited or no alternative treatment options. ZEMDRI is an intravenous infusion, administered once daily.
“The approval of ZEMDRI marks a significant milestone for Achaogen and we are excited to offer healthcare practitioners a new treatment option for patients with certain serious bacterial infections. ZEMDRI is designed to retain its potent activity in the face of certain difficult-to-treat MDR infections, including CRE and ESBL- producing Enterobacteriaceae,” said Blake Wise, Achaogen’s Chief Executive Officer. “Today’s milestone was made possible by our employees, by patients and investigators involved in our clinical trials, and by BARDA, who contributed significant funding for the development of ZEMDRI. This marks an important step in our commitment to fighting MDR bacteria and we are excited to launch ZEMDRI, a much needed once-daily antibiotic.”
“Bacteria continue to circumvent existing antibiotics, making certain infections notoriously hard to treat and putting some patients at high risk for mortality,” said James A. McKinnell, Assistant Professor of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine and LA Biomed at Harbor-UCLA. “Aminoglycosides are a familiar and very effective class of antibiotics. I look forward to adding plazomicin to my short list of available treatment options and to its potential impact on patient outcomes.”
The approval of ZEMDRI is supported in part by data from the EPIC (Evaluating Plazomicin In cUTI) clinical trial, which was the first randomized controlled study of once-daily aminoglycoside therapy for the treatment of cUTI, including pyelonephritis.