U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH NIH News
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) <http://www.niaid.nih.gov/>
Embargoed for Release: Tuesday, October 19, 2010, 11 a.m. EDT
NIH FUNDS FOUR CLINICAL TRIALS TO FIGHT ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE
Eight large NIH trials now seeking to preserve the usefulness of licensed antibiotics
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, today announced four new contracts for large-scale clinical trials that address the problem of antimicrobial resistance. Over the next five to six years, these new clinical trials will evaluate treatment alternatives for diseases for which antibiotics are prescribed most often, including acute otitis media (middle ear infections), community-acquired pneumonia and diseases caused by Gram-negative bacteria, which frequently are resistant to first-line antibiotics. Each trial will enroll at least 1,000 participants who have been diagnosed with these illnesses and diseases.
"Many infectious diseases are increasingly difficult to treat because bacteria and other microbes have developed resistance to commonly used antimicrobial drugs," says NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. "Research to preserve the effectiveness of licensed antibiotics is a critical priority for the Institute. With these new contracts, NIAID now supports a total of eight large clinical trials in this arena."
Antimicrobial research has changed significantly since many current drugs were developed, says Dennis M. Dixon, Ph.D., chief of NIAID's Bacteriology and Mycology Branch. "Years ago, we were not as focused on antimicrobial resistance because there was generally another class of drug in the research and development pipeline. Today, the development of new antimicrobials is moving much more slowly than the evolution of resistance to existing treatments, so we need to preserve the drugs we have."
These new trials are part of a two-pronged NIAID approach to antimicrobial research: learning how to make better use of the drugs we have today in order to protect their usefulness while simultaneously facilitating the development of new drugs.
Like the four large NIAID trials already in progress, the four new studies are designed to answer specific questions about how to improve treatment strategies. The investigators will conduct clinical trials of new regimens involving the use of already licensed, off-patent antimicrobial therapies to reduce the risk of antimicrobial resistance developing in the diseases of interest. For example, the dosage and duration of treatment will be evaluated.
"If one type of treatment proves to be just as safe and just as effective as one that is traditionally used, but less likely to induce antimicrobial resistance, then the new treatment could be preserved for a longer time," says Dr. Dixon. "These clinical trials look not only at effectiveness of various antimicrobial drugs in the individual patient, but also at how to preserve the most effective use of drugs in the overall population. The goal is to be more precise with what antimicrobial drugs a patient needs, at what dose, and for how long."
The awardees of the four new contracts include:
-- Principal Investigator (PI): Alejandro Hoberman, M.D., University of Pittsburgh
Determining the efficacy and impact on antimicrobial resistance of short-course antimicrobial therapy in young
children with acute otitis media
Initial award for fiscal year 2010: $772,863
-- PI: Victor Yu, M.D., University of Pittsburgh
Comparing narrow-spectrum antimicrobial therapy to standard of care in patients with community-acquired pneumonia
Initial award for fiscal year 2010: $3.01 million
-- PI: Keith Kaye, M.D., M.P.H., Wayne State University, Detroit
Comparing combination antimicrobial therapy with monotherapy for the treatment of Acinetobacter baumannii, a major
cause of bloodstream infection and pneumonia in health care settings
Initial award for fiscal year 2010: $2.84 million
-- PI: George Drusano, M.D., Ordway Research Institute, Albany, N. Y.
Comparing pharmacodynamic guidance of therapy, based on the drug's effect on the body, versus standard of care for
Gram-negative bacteremia
Initial award for fiscal year 2010: 1.98 million
For more information on antimicrobial resistance, visit NIAID's Antimicrobial Resistance Web site: <http://www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/antimicrobialresistance/Pages/default.aspx>.
For more information on this set of contracts, see the announcements for the 2007 awards: <http://www.niaid.nih.gov/news/newsreleases/2007/Pages/ca-mrsa_contracts.aspx> and the 2009 awards:
<http://www.niaid.nih.gov/news/newsreleases/2009/Pages/AntimicrobialResistanceTrials.aspx>.
NIAID conducts and supports research--at NIH, throughout the United States, and worldwide to study the causes of infectious and immune-mediated diseases, and to develop better means of preventing, diagnosing and treating these illnesses. News releases, fact sheets and other NIAID-related materials are available on the NIAID Web site at <http://www.niaid.nih.gov>.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) -- The Nation's Medical Research Agency -- includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit <www.nih.gov>.
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