A New Antibacterial Compound to Treat Skin Infections

The Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy has published a study led by Dr. Jordi Vila, from ISGlobal, that shows that the probability of selecting mutants resistant to ozenoxacin, a new quinolone drug for the treatment of skin infections, is low.  

The prevalence of infections by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus strains (MSRA) has decreased in Europe over the last years but remains a global public health problem. Fluoroquinolones have been normally used to treat such infections, but this has led to the development of resistant strains owing to DNA mutations in the quinolone resistance-determining region (QRDR). Ozenoxacin belongs to a new generation of non-fluorinated quinolones that has been tested in phase III clinical trials and that has excellent in vitro activity against Gram-positive bacteria, including quinolone-resistant strains.  

The goal of the study was to determine the frequency of selecting spontaneous mutants resistant to ozenoxacin. For this, they tested the drug on different Staphylococcus, Streptococcus and Enterococcus clinical isolates that were quinolone-resistant or susceptible. The results show that the drug has excellent in vitro activity against the main microorganisms that cause skin and soft tissue infections. In addition, the drug selected resistant mutants at a very low frequency, independently of their resistance to quinolones.    

According to Dr. Jordi Vila "There results are encouraging. Considering the good in vitro activity against the main bacteria causing this type of infections, this new drug represents an excellent therapeutic alternative for the treatment of skin infections."  

Reference:

López Y, Tato M, Espinal P, Garcia-Alonso F, Gargallo-Viola D, Cantón R, Vila J. In vitro selection of mutants resistant to ozenoxacin compared with levofloxacin and ciprofloxacin in Gram-positive cocci. J Antimicrob Chemother. 2015. 70(1):57-61