Theravance, Astellas Launch Vibativ In US

Theravance and Astellas Pharma have commercially launched Vibativ (telavancin) in the US. FDA approved Vibativ for the treatment of adult patients with complicated skin and skin structure infections (cSSSI) caused by susceptible gram-positive bacteria.

Vibativ, a bactericidal, once-daily injectable lipoglycopeptide antibiotic, was discovered by Theravance in a research program dedicated to finding new antibiotics for serious infections due to staphylococcus aureus and other gram-positive bacteria, including MRSA.

Robert Moellering and Shields Warren-Mallinckrodt, professor of medical research at Harvard Medical School and Emeritus physician-in-chief and chairman of the department of medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, said: “The availability of Vibativ is wonderful news for clinicians treating MRSA infections. With the launch of Vibativ, physicians now have an important and welcome addition to the current armamentarium for the treatment of cSSSI.

“We desperately need new antimicrobial agents to bridge the therapeutic gap created by increasingly resistant microbes. Vibativ is specifically designed to solve this problem among resistant Gram-positive bacteria such as MRSA.”