Wyeth's antibiotic Tygacil launched in UK

US drug major Wyeth has launched its broad spectrum antibiotic Tygacil (tigecycline) in the UK. The drug was originally approved by the US Food and Drug Administration last year (Marketletter June 27) before being accepted by European regulators earlier this year, specifically for use in complicated infections of the skin and soft tissues as well as hospital acquired infections.

Robert Masterson, executive medical director and consultant microbiologist, National Health Service Ayrshire and Arran, told the Marketletter that antibiotic resistance and the development of "superbugs" was a growing problem in the UK, which costs the NHS an additional L1.0 billion ($1.25 billion) every year. Dr Masterson added that the decline in the development of new antibiotics over the last 20 years has limited the options available to physicians to deal with life threatening infections. He went on to say that "the introduction of tigecycline in the UK comes at absolutely the right time and will provide a vital new weapon in the fight against infection."

Also at the event, Mark Palazzo, chief of service for critical care medicine at Hammersmith Hospitals NHS trust, said that novel broad-spectrum antibiotics would reduce the number of drugs required to treat a patient, thereby resulting in a considerable cost saving. Dr Palazzo went on to explain that the use of a broad spectrum approach would provide protection during the initial stages of infection, thereby allowing identification of the specific pathogen responsible, which often takes several days, rather than reliance on a "best guess" treatment strategy.