New Data With R-PR's Synercid

Rhone-Poulenc Rorer has reported new data on its novel injectablestreptogramin antibiotic Synercid (quinupristin/dalfopristin) at the International Congress of Chemotherapy.

Robert Moellering of Harvard Medical School in the USA presented safety and efficacy data from a study of Synercid in severely-ill patients, eg those who had undergone organ transplantation, with Enterococcus faecium infections resistant to all clinically-appropriate antibiotics. A clinical response was noted in 73.8% of the 195 evaluable patients, and a bacteriologic response, whereby pathogens were either eradicated or presumed eradicated, was recorded in 70.9% of patients. The most common adverse event was joint pain, experienced by 11.3% of patients.

Jean-Yves Fagon of the Hopital Broussais-Universite Paris IV, France, reported results of a study comparing Synercid with vancomycin in patients with nosocomial pneumonia. A clinical response rate of 56.5% was found in the Synercid-treated group, compared to 58.3% of the vancomycin receivers.