The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first new antibiotic to treat UTIs in 30 years. The medication, gepotidacin, targets E. coli bacteria, which is responsible for the most common types of infections – uncomplicated UTIs – affecting women.
Prinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most common medical issues women experience; up to 60% of them will get one during their lifetime, reports TIME. Older, post-menopausal women are especially susceptible, since lower oestrogen levels can lead to decreased levels of beneficial bacteria that suppress infection-causing bacteria.
Called Blujepa, the drug works differently from existing antibiotics, targeting two enzymes that E. coli uses to make more copies of itself when it generates and snips off circles of its DNA.
During that process, the DNA can become knotted, but the bacteria can undo those knots. Blujepa interferes with that process, which prevents the bacteria from replicating and producing more bacteria that can infect cells.
Tony Wood, chief scientific officer at GSK (which makes Blujepa), said this process was unique to E. coli bacteria, and the fact that the drug focused on this unique property could make it harder for the bacteria to develop resistance against the drug.
Existing antibiotics that are used to treat UTIs have broad activity against a number of bacterial species, making it more likely that bacteria can find ways to develop resistance to them.
In two large trials of the drug that the FDA reviewed for approval, Blujepa was as good as or slightly better than another commonly prescribed antibiotic for UTIs, nitrofurantoin. Blujepa successfully treated 50% and 58% of women, respectively, in the two studies with infections, compared with nitrofurantoin’s success rate of 43% and 47%.
GSK was also studying the drug against other E. coli infections in the body, including gonorrhoea, Wood said.
In addition, the company is working on another antibiotic to treat complicated UTIs, in which the infection spreads beyond the bladder and into other tissues. These infections often require hospitalisation and a longer course of treatment.
That drug could potentially help keep people out of the hospital or reduce their stay if they do need more intensive care.
TIME Magazine article – There’s a New Pill to Treat UTIs (Open access)
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
FDA approves new oral drug for UTIs, despite concerns
FDA approves new UTI treatment
Most women receive inappropriate treatment for uncomplicated UTIs