Amikacin Inhale Shows Promising Results in Phas...( - Bayer together with Nektar Therapeu...),Health

- Bayer together with Nektar Therapeutics present preliminary Phase II data

for the adjunctive treatment of pneumonia in intubated and

mechanically-ventilated patients

TORONTO and BERLIN, May 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Bayer HealthCare together with Nektar Therapeutics (Nasdaq: NKTR), today presented positive preliminary Phase II data on their unique drug-device combination Amikacin Inhale at the American Thoracic Society (ATS) annual meeting. Amikacin Inhale, currently being studied for the adjunctive treatment of Gram-negative pneumonia in intubated and mechanically-ventilated patients, achieved over 1000 times greater lung exposure to the antibiotic amikacin as compared to intravenous route of administration. This shows that targeting antibiotic therapy to the site of infection might offer superior bacterial eradication and increased efficacy, which may result in a higher likelihood of the patient's survival. Currently, Gram-negative pneumonia carries a mortality risk as high as 50 percent in mechanically-ventilated patients(1).

"Mechanically-ventilated patients in critical care units are at particularly high risk of developing pneumonia. Most of them are already seriously ill because of severe underlying diseases," said Professor Michael Niederman, Chairman, Department of Medicine, Winthrop University Hospital, New York, and one of the lead investigators of the study. "Because of the high morbidity and mortality of Gram-negative pneumonia, fast and efficient treatment is essential. Intravenous therapies cannot always reach effective concentrations in infected lungs at tolerable doses. The new study data shows that the device successfully delivers the antibiotic directly to the site of inf
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