The first new treatments for gonorrhoea in decades have been approved by US regulators, offering hope against rising drug-resistant strains of the sexually transmitted infection.
Gonorrhoea cases are surging worldwide, with an estimated 82 million infections each year and record levels reported in England. Health officials are increasingly alarmed by resistance to existing antibiotics, prompting the World Health Organization to classify the disease as a “priority pathogen”.
One of the newly approved drugs, zoliflodacin (brand name Nuzolvence), received US Food and Drug Administration approval on 12 December. Another antibiotic, gepotidacin, developed by GSK, was approved a day earlier after proving effective against resistant strains.
Experts say the approvals mark a major breakthrough. “This is a huge turning point in the treatment of multidrug-resistant gonorrhoea,” said Dr Manica Balasegaram of the Global Antibiotic Research & Development Partnership (GARDP), which helped develop zoliflodacin.
Clinical trial results published in the Lancet showed zoliflodacin cured more than 90% of genital gonorrhoea infections, matching current standard treatments but with the advantage of a single oral dose. Researchers hope targeted use will slow the emergence of resistance.
WHO officials welcomed the development, warning that without new treatments, drug-resistant gonorrhoea could become increasingly difficult to control worldwide.
