The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Xacduro, a new treatment for hospital-acquired bacterial pneumonia (HABP) and ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia (VABP) caused by susceptible strains of bacteria called Acinetobacter baumannii-calcoaceticus (A. baumannii) complex, for patients 18 years of age and older. The FDA granted the approval of Xacduro to Entasis Therapeutics. 

According to the World Health Organization, Acinetobacter species top the list of critical bacterial pathogens that pose the greatest threat to human health, highlighting the high level of need for additional treatment options amid growing global resistance to antimicrobial medicines.

A. baumannii includes four species of bacteria in the Acinetobacter family. These bacteria can cause infections in various parts of the body, occurring most frequently in healthcare settings and predominantly causing pneumonia. A. baumannii can become highly resistant to multiple antibacterial drugs and current treatment options for drug-resistant A. baumannii are limited.

Xacduro consists of sulbactam, a drug structurally related to penicillin, and durlobactam. Sulbactam kills A. baumannii whereas durlobactam protects sulbactam from being degraded by enzymes that may be produced by A. baumannii. Xacduro is administered by intravenous infusion.

The most common adverse reaction with Xacduro was liver function test abnormalities. Xacduro comes with certain warnings and precautions, such as hypersensitivity reactions and Clostridiodes difficile-associated diarrhoea.

The FDA advised patients that they should not receive Xacduro if they have a history of known severe hypersensitivity to components of Xacduro, sulbactam or other beta-lactam antibacterial drugs.