90% cure rate for MRSA cSSSI with J&J's ceftobiprole

US health care major Johnson & Johnson's investigational antibiotic ceftobiprole was as effective as commonly-used combination therapy in treating patients with complicated skin infections caused by a broad spectrum of bacteria, according to data presented at the 47th annual Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, held in Chicago, USA.

Ceftobiprole also was found to clinically cure more than 90% of patients who had infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus, including patients with complicated skin infections due to PVL-positive methicillin-resistant S aureus. The agent belongs to a class of antibacterial agents known as cephalosporins, which are used to treat serious infections, and was licensed from and is being co-developed with Swiss drug developer Basilea Pharmaceutica.

J&J noted that 500mg of ceftobiprole administered intravenously every eight hours was as effective and well-tolerated as the commonly-used combination of 1g of IV vancomycin every 12 hours plus 1g of IV ceftazidime every eight hours in eradicating a broad spectrum of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria associated with complicated skin infections, including diabetic foot infections.