Purpose: The pharmacology, activity, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, clinical efficacy, safety, dosage, and place in therapy of telavancin are reviewed.
Summary: Telavancin is a lipoglycopeptide antimicrobial agent under development for use in the treatment of multidrug-resistant gram-positive infections. Telavancin, like vancomycin, inhibits cell-wall biosynthesis by binding to late-stage cell-wall precursors. However, unlike vancomycin, telavancin also depolarizes the bacterial cell membrane and disrupts its functional integrity. Telavancin has concentration-dependent bactericidal activity and is active against gram-positive aerobic and anaerobic organisms. It is highly protein bound (93%) and has a volume of distribution of 115 mL/kg and a half-life of approximately eight hours. Telavancin is eliminated renally, and a dosage reduction is required in renally impaired patients. Animal models suggest that telavancin may be effective in the treatment of soft-tissue infections, bacteremia, endocarditis, meningitis, and pneumonia caused by gram-positive pathogens. Telavancin was not inferior to standard treatment for complicated skin and soft-tissue infections in two Phase II clinical trials and two Phase III clinical trials. A new drug application has been submitted for this indication, and Phase III trials to evaluate use in hospital-acquired-pneumonia, including infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), are planned. Adverse effects include metallic taste, nausea, vomiting, headache, foamy urine, Q-Tc-interval prolongation, hypokalemia, and serum creatinine increases. In trials evaluating telavancin for skin and soft-tissue infections, the dosage was 10 mg/kg i.v. once daily.
Conclusion: Telavancin is a promising new agent for gram-positive infections and may offer an alternative to vancomycin for MRSA-associated infections.