The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) is funding four new large-scale clinical trials to help address the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance. The trials, which join four others already in progress, will evaluate treatment alternatives for diseases for which antibiotics are prescribed most often, including acute otitis media, community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), and diseases caused by Gram-negative bacteria. Each trial will enroll at least 1,000 patients.

The investigators will conduct 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. The trials will determine the efficacy and impact on antimicrobial resistance of short-course antimicrobial therapy in young children with acute otitis media; compare narrow-spectrum antimicrobial therapy to standard of care in patients with CAP; compare combination antimicrobial therapy with monotherapy for the treatment of Acinetobacter baumannii; and compare pharmacodynamic guidance of therapy, based on the drug's effect on the body, versus standard of care for Gram-negative bacteremia.

See NIAID’s press release for more information.

IDSA has been a strong advocate for funding this type of research. For more information, see the September 2009 issue of IDSA News.

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