Oritavancin for skin infections.

Oritavancin (LY-333328) is a semisynthetic lipoglycopeptide for the treatment of serious infections with Gram-positive pathogens, especially methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and complicated skin and soft tissue infections. A New Drug Application for oritavancin administered intravenously once daily for 3 to 7 days for complicated skin and soft tissue infections was filed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in April 2008. This article provides an overview of the publicly available data and includes data presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Disease in April 2008. Although several agents are currently or soon to be available for resistant Gram-positive infections, oritavancin has several key features: (i) multiple mechanisms of antibacterial action; (ii) broad spectrum and high potency against Gram-positive pathogens; (iii) bactericidal activity and long duration of the postantibiotic effect with excellent activity against stationary-phase bacteria and biofilms; (iv) long half-life, allowing infrequent dosing and potentially allowing the entire course of therapy to be a single dose; and (v) documented clinical efficacy and safety.