Lancet study shows new antibiotic effective against gonorrhea

Helen Branswell covers issues broadly related to infectious diseases, including outbreaks, preparedness, research, and vaccine development. Follow her on Mastodon and Bluesky. You can reach Helen on Signal at hbranswell.01.

A single-dose oral antibiotic from a new class of drugs was as effective as the previous standard of care at treating uncomplicated urogenital gonorrhea, a study published Thursday in The Lancet reported. If approved for use, zoliflodacin would be a welcome addition to an armamentarium that contains precious few tools to treat Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the wily bacterium that causes the infection.

In fact, the world should learn soon if zoliflodacin, which is being developed as part of a private-public partnership, will be deployed in the fight against gonorrhea. The Food and Drug Administration set a decision date of Dec. 15 to tell the drug’s developers — Innoviva Specialty Therapeutics and the Global Antibiotic Research & Development Partnership, or GARDP — whether it will approve zoliflodacin.

Earlier Thursday, the FDA approved an extension of the license for GSK’s drug Blujeba (gepotidacin) to allow its use in the treatment of uncomplicated urogenital gonorrhea. Earlier this year the antibiotic was approved for the treatment of uncomplicated urinary tract infections.