Tigecycline a match for standard therapy in complicated infections

Tigecycline [Tygacil], a novel broad-spectrum glycylcycline, is effective in the treatment of complicated bacterial infections, according to studies presented at the 44th Interscience Conference of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) [Washington DC, US; October−November 2004]. Results from a large phase III study showed that tigecycline is as effective as imipenem/cilastatin in the treatment of complicated intra-abdominal infections (IAIs). In this multinational study, which involved > 800 patients, clinical cure and bacteriological eradication rates were comparable among tigecycline and imipenem/cilastatin recipients. In another key phase III study presented at the conference, tigecycline also demonstrated clinical benefit of tigecycline in patients with complicated skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs). This study included > 500 patients who received tigecycline monotherapy or vancomycin plus aztreonam for a mean duration of 8 days. Among the clinically evaluable population, tigecycline produced comparable clinical cure rates to vancomycin plus aztreonam at test-of-cure. Similarly, in the microbiologically evaluable population, bacteriological eradication rates were comparable across the treatment groups.