Telavancin: A Review of Its Use in Patients with Nosocomial Pneumonia

Telavancin (Vibativ®), a lipoglycopeptide antibacterial agent, exhibits potent in vitro activity against Gram-positive bacteria associated with nosocomial pneumonia infections, including meticillin/oxacillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates and S. aureus isolates with reduced susceptibility to vancomycin. In two multinational trials in adult patients with nosocomial pneumonia caused by Gram-positive bacteria, including infections caused by MRSA isolates, a 1-h intravenous infusion of telavancin 10 mg/kg once daily was noninferior to intravenous vancomycin 1 g every 12 h in terms of clinical cure rates in the all-treated (AT) and clinically evaluable (CE) populations at the follow-up/test-of-cure (FU/TOC) visit. At this visit, clinical cure rates in the AT populations of both groups were approximately 60 %, with rates increasing to ≥80 % in the CE population. Pooled analyses of these trials also generally showed no significant between-group differences in clinical cure rates at the FU/TOC visit in the AT, CE and microbiologically evaluable (ME) populations. In the ME population, clinical cure rates were generally similar in the telavancin and vancomycin groups, irrespective of whether infections were mono- or polymicrobial, or caused by MRSA or methicillin/oxacillin-susceptible S. aureus isolates. Telavancin was generally well tolerated in patients with nosocomial pneumonia participating in clinical trials, with a tolerability profile that was generally similar to that of vancomycin. Telavancin offers an alternative treatment option in patients with nosocomial pneumonia caused by Gram-positive S. aureus, including those caused by MRSA and S. aureus isolates with reduced susceptibility to vancomycin.