New antibiotic could be an effective treatment for drug-resistant gonorrhea
A pill developed by GSK was found to be safe and effective in treating gonorrhea. It could be the first new type of antibiotic for the STI in more than 20 years.
A pill developed by GSK was found to be safe and effective in treating gonorrhea in a late-stage clinical trial, according to a study published Monday in The Lancet. If approved, it would become the first new class of antibiotic for the sexually transmitted infection in more than two decades.
The pill, called gepotidacin, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in March to treat uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women and girls 12 and up — the most common type of infection in women. The drug is sold under the name Blujepa.
A new treatment option is important, experts say, because bacteria that commonly cause STIs are increasingly becoming resistant to the standard antibiotics, making treatment more difficult.
There are an estimated 82 million new cases of gonorrhea globally each year, according to GSK. In the United States, rates of reported gonorrhea have increased 118% from 2009 to 2021, with more than 640,000 cases being reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2022.
Gonorrhea has developed resistance to nearly all the antibiotics used for its treatment, according to the CDC.
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