The ATTAIN Trials: Efficacy and Safety of Telavancin Compared with Vancomycin for the Treatment of Hospital-Acquired and Ventilator-Associated Bacterial Pneumonia

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Hospital-acquired bacterial pneumonia (HABP) is the second most common nosocomial infection in the USA and the leading cause of mortality among hospital-acquired infections. An increasing proportion of HABP cases are the result of infection with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Telavancin is a once-daily injectable, semisynthetic lipoglycopeptide antimicrobial with bactericidal activity against susceptible Gram-positive pathogens, including MRSA. The two methodologically identical Phase III ATTAIN studies demonstrated that telavancin was noninferior to vancomycin for the treatment of HABP, including ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia, due to S. aureus (including methicillin-sensitive S. aureus and MRSA). Telavancin showed a similar safety profile to vancomycin, except that in patients with moderate-to-severe renal impairment, there was increased mortality, which warrants caution when using telavancin in this population. Now approved in the USA for the treatment of HABP, including ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia, caused by susceptible isolates of S. aureus when other alternatives are not suitable, telavancin offers another therapeutic option.

KEYWORDS:

• clinical trial
• Gram positive
• hospital-acquired bacterial pneumonia
• MRSA
• nosocomial pneumonia
• telavancin

Financial & competing interests disclosure

SL Barriere is an employee of Theravance, Inc., and holds stock/stock options in Theravance, Inc. The author has no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

Medical writing support, funded by Theravance, Inc., was provided by Paul Littlebury, PhD, of Envision Scientific Solutions.