Forest and Johnson and Johnson antibiotics ‘most promising in pipeline’

Antibiotics from Forest and Johnson & Johnson have been described as the most promising antibiotics currently in drug development pipelines for the treatment of community-acquired pneumonia.

In a report from research firm Decision Resources, Ceftobiprole from Johnson & Johnson and Basilea and Ceftaroline from Forest are the most promising drugs currently in development for the treatment of this condition.

The company notes that the spectrum of this class of drugs known as Cephalosporins includes action against methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

According to the Pharmacor report titled Community-Acquired Pneumonia, the market for pneumoccocal vaccines saw sales of $1.5 billion (728.5 million pounds) worldwide in 2006, while antibiotics saw sales of $800 million.

Kaitlyn Sullivan, an analyst at Decision Resources, said: “Community-acquired pneumonia is an important indication for antibiotic drug developers because it represents a sizeable inpatient population and can be a gateway indication to the large outpatient respiratory tract infections market.”

She added that doctors interviewed by the firm have expressed worries about the increasing levels of resistance of macrolides in the outpatient setting.

In September 2007, the Department of Health reported that traditional long-sleeved white coats would be abolished from hospital wards as part of plans to deal with hospital “superbugs”, including MRSA and Clostridium difficile.