New Antibiotics in the CF Medicine Chest

People with cystic fibrosis can find themselves in the hospital as many as four times in one year battling lung infections. To combat these recurrent infections, CF patients turn to the same types of drugs that doctors use to treat pneumonia or sinus infections — antibiotics.

Because almost every person with CF develops lung disease, antibiotics are a critical part of regular CF care. The CF Foundation has a robust program in place to develop new antibiotic treatment options.

“We are likely to see a number of new antibiotics for CF patients soon,” says Preston W. Campbell, III, M.D., executive vice president of medical affairs of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. “These new drugs will be an effective treatment regimen for every person with CF.”

Building an Arsenal to Battle CF Infections

The CF Foundation is making great progress in the field of antibiotics — particularly in the battle against CF lung infections. Currently, there are seven potential therapies in development. Because resistance to antibiotics is a concern, particularly for CF patients who take these drugs regularly, it is important to develop a large array of anti-infective medications.

Once approved, these drugs could drastically reduce the burden of care for people with CF. They will be easier to use and will take less time to administer, decreasing the time CF patients spend on their daily treatment regimen.

Better, Faster Drugs

Some antibiotics in the pipeline will be able to be taken more quickly than those currently available to patients. For instance, TIP (tobramycin inhaled powder) can be administered significantly faster than TOBI. BAY Q3939 is a powder product, making it easier for the drug to get directly into the lungs, and AZLI uses a more efficient nebulizer that significantly reduces treatment time.

Other antibiotics in development use new ways of delivering medicine to infected lungs. A cutting-edge antibiotic by Transave, Inc. called Arikace utilizes a drug formulation that makes it possible for the medicine to better penetrate CF mucus and kill bacteria. This could significantly improve lung function by reducing CF lung infections.

With seven potential antibiotics in the Foundation’s therapeutics pipeline, 2009 is an exciting year for progress in this arena.

Learn More

• Learn more about other potential drugs being developed for CF.
• The continued development of new antibiotics cannot happen without your help. Make a contribution to support the discovery of new drugs for CF.

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