Teixobactin is still in preclinical development. At least 90% of new entities at this stage fail to gain clearance and make it to the clinic. That is the most probable outcome, based on historical trends. However, the results reported in the Nature paper are pretty strong, and I expect the odds are much better for teixobactin than for the average new entity. But it is still 50:50 at best that it will ever be cleared.
Assuming it does get cleared, here is what we know about its properties that would affect its ultimate utility:
1 - It is effective against a wide spectrum of Gram-positive bacteria (eg, Staphylococcus)
2 - It not effective against Gram-negative bacteria (eg, E. coli or Acinetobacter)
3 - It is unlikely to be orally available
Here's what we don't know:
1 - Its biodistribution and efficacy in various tissues and organs.
2 - Its pharmacokinetics in humans
3 - Its side-effect and toxicity profile
The upside that I see for teixobactin is that it is used much as daptomycin is today: an alternative to vancomycin for treating systemic Gram-positive infections. As it will probably have to be administered by IV, its use will largely be confined to hospitalized patients, unless its side-effect profile and pharmacokinetics are sufficiently favorable to allow use in outpatient clinics.
Teixobactin has definite potential to be a valuable tool. But it does nothing to solve the most pressing issue in antibiotic development, the need for new agents that are effective against multi-drug resistant Gram-negative organisms.
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