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Norgine has launched an effective antibiotic for treating non-invasive travellers’ diarrhoea (TD) after a licence was granted for prescription in the UK.
Xifaxanta™ is the first oral antibiotic for the treatment of TD, which remains almost entirely inside the gut (<99%).
As such, the potential for resistance is low, despite Xifaxanta’s use in many countries over several years.
In addition, the risk of systemic side effects and/or drug-drug interactions is reduced.
Xifaxanta™ presents prescribers with an opportunity to treat TD efficiently, but without the concerns of inducing systemic bacterial resistance.
Xifaxanta™ has been available in the USA and other European countries since 2004, but can now be prescribed by UK general practitioners and travel clinics to patients travelling to high-risk destinations as a ‘stand by treatment’.
Administration is via a course of tablets to be taken thrice daily for three days.
The following patients in particular could benefit from taking Xifaxanta™:
Ð Those visiting high-risk regions
Ð Those with increased susceptibility to infection (eg immunocompromised)
Ð Those for whom an episode of TD would adversely disrupt their planned activities
Ð Those returning from travel with uncomplicated TD
A clinical trial found no significant difference between the efficacy of Xifaxanta™ and Ciprofloxacin in non-invasive TD.
The median time from taking XifaxantaTM until the last unformed stool was between 32 and 32½ hours.
Clinical ‘wellness’ was achieved significantly faster with Xifaxanta™-containing regimens compared with Loperamide alone.
Xifaxanta™ was generally well tolerated and associated with a low incidence of adverse events, which were generally mild to moderate in severity.
The most commonly reported events were gastrointestinal in nature, such as flatulence and abdominal pain.
Xifaxanta™ has not been associated with clinically significant cross-resistance to other members of the rifamycin class, in particular Rifampicin.
