New Drug Approved to Fight Community-Acquired Pneumonia

Individuals with certain heart conditions cautioned

Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Xenleta (lefamulin) to treat adults with community-acquired bacterial pneumonia.

“This new drug provides another option for the treatment of patients with community-acquired bacterial pneumonia, a serious disease,” said Ed Cox, MD, MPH, director of FDA’s Office of Antimicrobial Products. “For managing this serious disease, it is important for physicians and patients to have treatment options. This approval reinforces our ongoing commitment to address treatment of infectious diseases by facilitating the development of new antibiotics.”

Community-acquired pneumonia occurs when someone develops pneumonia in the community (not in a hospital). Pneumonia is a type of lung infection that can range in severity from mild to severe illness and can affect people of all ages. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, each year in the United States about one million people are hospitalized with community-acquired pneumonia and 50,000 people die from the disease.

The safety and efficacy of Xenleta, taken either orally or intravenously, was evaluated in two clinical trials with a total of 1,289 patients with CABP. In these trials, treatment with Xenleta was compared to another antibiotic, moxifloxacin with or without linezolid. The trials showed that patients treated with Xenleta had similar rates of clinical success as those treated with moxifloxacin with or without linezolid. 

The most common adverse reactions reported in patients taking Xenleta included diarrhea, nausea, reactions at the injection site, elevated liver enzymes and vomiting. Xenleta has the potential to cause a change on an ECG reading (prolonged QT interval). Patients with prolonged QT interval, patients with certain irregular heart rhythms (arrhythmias), patients receiving treatment for certain irregular heart rhythms (antiarrhythmic agents), and patients receiving other drugs that prolong the QT interval should avoid Xenleta.

SOURCE: FDA