Strong Ph III data for J&J/Basilea's ceftobiprole

US health care major Johnson & Johnson's investigational antibiotic ceftobiprole was found to clinically cure 86% of patients with diabetic foot infections including some infections that were caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, according to Phase III trial data presented at the 45th annual meeting of the Infectious Disease Society of America, held in San Diego, California.

Ceftobiprole, which is licensed from, and is being co-developed with, Basilea Pharmaceutica, belongs to the cephalosporin class of antibacterials which are used to treat serious infections caused by both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria.

In clinically-evaluable patients, 500mg of ceftobiprole administered intravenously every eight hours demonstrated an 86.2% cure rate compared to the 81.8% seen with the combination of 1g of vancomycin administered intravenously every 12 hours plus 1g of ceftazidime IV every eight hours.