ONGOING PUBLIC EFFORTS TO DEVELOP NEW TREATMENTS FOR GONORRHOEA

oleh: Fernando Pascual

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: Elsevier 2023-05-01

Deskripsi

Gonorrhoea, caused by infection with the Gram- negative bacteria Neisseria gonorrhoeae, is the second most frequently reported sexually transmitted infection (STI) worldwide, with the highest incidence rates in the African region. N. gonorrhoeae resistance is reported for all antibiotics developed over the past 80 years – giving gonorrhoea the potential of becoming an untreatable disease with critical implications to reproductive, maternal and newborn health as well as increased HIV transmission in areas of high endemicity, with potential for massive impact on healthcare systems.Zoliflodacin is a new oral antibiotic currently in development, for the management of infection with (multiple) drug-resistant N. gonorrhoeae. It is the first representative of the new class of spiropyrimidinetriones with a unique mode of action (inhibiting bacterial type II topoisomerases) co-developed by GARDP and Entasis Pharmaceuticals. Clinical isolates of N. gonorrhoeae collected around the world were all susceptible to zoliflodacin, including those strains that were resistant to penicillin, cefixime, ceftriaxone, azithromycin, tetracycline, and fluoroquinolones. GARDP is funding and conducting the on-going clinical phase 3 trial of zoliflodacin for the treatment of gonorrhoea running in the Netherlands, Belgium, US, Thailand and South Africa. In the phase 3 study zoliflodacin is compared to current standard of care consisting of injectable ceftriaxone and oral azithromycin. Introduction of zoliflodacin in areas of high prevalence such as South Africa and Thailand after its approval will need to be done carefully in order to prevent early emergence of drug resistance. An understanding of barriers to uptake, knowledge of prevalence and resistance patterns and best practices for implementation in the clinic are some of the areas that GARDP is currently investigating. These plans will be discussed at the meeting.