Avelox advantage over levofloxacin in community-acquired infection

A therapy's overall clinical efficacy (defined as cure or improvement of symptoms) is the attribute that most influences primary care physicians' prescribing decisions for community-acquired pneumonia, according to Decision Resources, a leading research and advisory firm focusing on pharmaceutical and health care issues.

Clinical data and expert opinion show that Bayer/Schering-Plough/Shionogi's Avelox (moxifloxacin) is similar in overall clinical efficacy to the market leader levofloxacin, marketed by USA-based Johnson & Johnson as Levaquin, France's Sanofi-Aventis as Tavanic and Daiichi Sankyo as Cravit. However, Avelox' Japan's advantages in bacteriological efficacy, spectrum of activity, and activity against key antibiotic-resistant pathogens earn the agent gold standard status for community acquired pneumonia.

The new report, entitled Community-Acquired Pneumonia: In a Crowded Generics-Dominated Market, Room for New Agents Still Exists, finds that, through 2016, there are no therapies in development that will displace Avelox as the clinical gold standard for the treatment of community-acquired pneumonia. Although levofloxacin is superior to Avelox in the areas of safety and delivery - offering a lower incidence of dermatological reactions and a five-day course of treatment - the latter outperforms levofloxacin on efficacy measures such as bacteriological eradication and activity against penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.