Johnson and Johnson gets approval from FDA

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Doribax (doripenem for injection) put forward by Johnson & Johnson.

Doribax is a drug for the treatment of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) and nosocomial pneumonia (NP).

Nosocomial pneumonia is an illness caught when in hospital.

The committee voted that one-hour and four-hour infusions of 500 mg of Doribax was both safe and effective.

“We recognise that there is an important need for new antibiotics to treat these serious hospital infections,” said Joanne Waldstreicher, managing director and global head of drug development for Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development.

Doribax is part of a category of antibacterial drugs called carbapenems and has been created for hospital use.

It can be used to treat intra-abdominal infections and complicated urinary tract infections caused by strains such as E coli or bacteremia.

Johnson & Johnson has over 250 companies working in 57 different countries.