The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Fetroja (cefiderocol), an antibacterial drug for treatment of patients 18 years of age or older with complicated urinary tract infections (cUTI), including kidney infections caused by susceptible Gram-negative microorganisms, who have limited or no alternative treatment options.
The safety and effectiveness of Fetroja was demonstrated in a study of 448 patients with cUTIs. Of the patients who were administered Fetroja, 72.6 percent had resolution of symptoms and eradication of the bacteria approximately seven days after completing treatment, compared with 54.6 percent in patients who received an alternative antibiotic. The clinical response rates were similar between the two treatment groups.
Labeling for Fetroja includes a warning regarding the higher all-cause mortality rate observed in Fetroja-treated patients compared to those treated with other antibiotics in a trial in critically ill patients with multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacterial infections. The cause of the increase in mortality has not been established. Some of the deaths were a result of worsening or complications of infection or underlying co-morbidities. The higher all-cause mortality rate was observed in patients treated for hospital-acquired/ventilator-associated pneumonia (i.e.nosocomial pneumonia), bloodstream infections, or sepsis. The safety and efficacy of Fetroja has not been established for the treatment of these types of infections.
The most common adverse reactions observed in patients treated with Fetroja included diarrhea, constipation, nausea, vomiting, elevations in liver tests, rash, infusion site reactions, candidiasis (yeast infection), cough, headache and hypokalemia (low potassium). Fetroja should not be used in individuals with a known history of severe hypersensitivity to beta-lactam antibacterial drugs.
Fetroja received the FDA’s Qualified Infectious Disease Product (QIDP) designation. The QIDP designation is given to antibacterial and antifungal drug products intended to treat serious or life-threatening infections under the Generating Antibiotic Incentives Now (GAIN) title of the FDA Safety and Innovation Act. As part of QIDP designation, Fetroja was granted Priority Review under which the FDA’s goal is to take action on an application within an expedited time frame.
