The approved indication is specifically for the short term treatment of impetigo and infected small lacerations, abrasions or sutured wounds.
The active substance of Altargo is retapamulin, a semi-synthetic derivative of the compound pleuromutilin with antibacterial action, which selectively inhibits bacterial protein synthesis by interaction with the bacterial ribosome.
The benefits with Altargo have been shown in studies in which retapamulin achieved similar clinical success rate to comparative therapies such as fusidic acid for impetigo and cephalexin for secondary infected traumatic lesions. The most common side effect was application site irritation.