Emerging drugs on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Introduction: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has proven to be a prominent pathogen in hospitals and in the community, which is capable of causing a variety of severe infections. Until now, there has been a limited antimicrobial armamentarium for use against MRSA, of which glycopeptides and linezolid are the main agents used. Areas covered: This review assesses current treatment and the agents being developed for MRSA infections. A search was conducted in PubMed for English-language references published from 2000 to 2013, using combinations of the following terms: 'MRSA', 'MRSA therapy', 'gram (+) infections therapy', 'new antibiotics', 'vancomycin', 'staphylococcus resistance', 'oritavancin', 'ceftaroline', 'linezolid' and 'tigecycline'. The clinicalTrials website was also searched with keywords regarding the new antibiotic agents against MRSA infections. Expert opinion: There are a number of new agents, the place of which in therapeutic regimens is yet to emerge. New glycopeptides, such as dalbavancin and oritavancin, with long half-lives, enabling once-weekly dosing, and oral agents, such as iclaprim, may provide a treatment approach for outpatient therapy. A decision must be made regarding the most suitable agent for an individual patient, the site of infection and the place of therapy.