A new antibiotic, the first to be developed in decades, can cure gonorrhea infections at least as effectively as the most powerful current treatment, a large clinical trial has found. The drug, zoliflodacin, is taken as a single dose, and it has not yet been approved for use in any country.

But the drug was developed in a way that experts hope will make it widely accessible and will prevent widespread drug resistance.

With more than 82 million new infections recorded worldwide in 2020, gonorrhea is among the most common sexually transmitted diseases. The pathogen, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, spreads through sexual contact to the genitals, rectum and throat.

About half of infected people show no symptoms, but in others gonorrhea can lead to painful joints and burning urination. Left untreated, it can cause infertility and sterility, blindness in infants or even death.

Over the years, the bacterium has found a way to dodge nearly every available antibiotic. It has become resistant to azithromycin and is increasingly resistant to another antibiotic called ceftriaxone, which is now the standard of care.

The most powerful defense combines a shot of ceftriaxone with azithromycin, but some evidence hints that gonorrhea is evolving to sidestep even that treatment.

Zoliflodacin is a new type of antibiotic, boosting hopes that the bacterium will remain susceptible to it for a long time.

“This is a new drug, genuinely solving a problem that really needs to be solved,” said Dr. Manica Balasegaram, executive director of Global Antibiotic Research & Development Partnership, or G.A.R.D.P., a nonprofit that shepherded the drug’s development.

“This doesn’t happen often,” he added.

anonymouse1 wrote:
And the 2023 award for the most subtle, most awful pun, goes to… freeradical!