R-PR Files First Dossier For Synercid Antibiotic

Rhone-Poulenc Rorer has filedits first marketing application for Synercid (quinupristin and dalfopristin), in the USA. The product is the first in a new class of antibiotics, the injectable streptogramins.

The two components in Synercid, both semi-synthetic pristinamycin (also called virginiamycin) derivatives, combine to create a synergistic agent that inhibits bacterial protein synthesis by binding to ribosomes. R-PR believes that Synercid provides an important new treatment in the battle against Gram-positive bacteria, including resistant strains.

The company is seeking approval to market Synercid for a variety of infections, including pneumonia, bacteremia and skin infections, many of which are caused by Gram-positive bacteria. The Synercid combination is bactericidal (against fully susceptible strains) and it is active against many multiply-resistant Gram positive bacteria, notably methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Staph epidermidis, vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium, and drug-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae.