The first new treatments for gonorrhoea in decades have been approved in the US, offering hope in the fight against rapidly rising drug-resistant strains of the infection.
Gonorrhoea infects more than 82 million people worldwide each year, with cases at record levels in England and tripling across Europe since 2014. Health officials are increasingly alarmed by resistance to existing antibiotics, with the World Health Organization classifying the disease as a priority pathogen.
Two new antibiotics have now received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration. Zoliflodacin, approved on 12 December, cured more than 90% of genital gonorrhoea cases in clinical trials and can be taken as a single oral dose. Gepotidacin, developed by GSK and approved a day earlier, has also proved effective against resistant strains.
Experts say the drugs could mark a major shift in treatment options. “This is a huge turning point in the treatment of multidrug-resistant gonorrhoea,” said Dr Manica Balasegaram of the Global Antibiotic Research & Development Partnership, which helped develop zoliflodacin.
The WHO welcomed the approvals, warning that resistance to current frontline treatments has risen sharply in recent years. Researchers hope the targeted use of the new antibiotics will slow the spread of resistance and help curb a growing global public health threat.
