Surotomycin was an investigational oral
antibiotic
An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting pathogenic bacteria, bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the therapy ...
. This
macrolide antibiotic
Macrolides are a class of mostly natural products with a large macrocyclic lactone ring to which one or more deoxy sugars, usually cladinose and desosamine, may be attached. Macrolides belong to the polyketide class of natural products. Some ...
was under investigation by
Merck & Co
Merck & Co., Inc. is an American Multinational corporation, multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Rahway, New Jersey. The company does business as Merck Sharp & Dohme or MSD outside the United States and Canada. It is one of the ...
(who acquired
Cubist Pharmaceuticals
Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was an American biopharmaceutical company that targeted pathogens like MRSA.
. The company employed 638 people, mostly in Lexington, Massachusetts. On 8 December 2014, Merck & Co. acquired Cubist for $102 per share ...
) for the treatment of life-threatening
diarrhea
Diarrhea (American English), also spelled diarrhoea or diarrhœa (British English), is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements in a day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration d ...
, commonly caused by the
bacterium
Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among the ...
''
Clostridioides difficile
''Clostridioides difficile'' ( syn. ''Clostridium difficile'') is a bacterium known for causing serious diarrheal infections, and may also cause colon cancer. It is known also as ''C. difficile'', or ''C. diff'' (), and is a Gram-positive spec ...
''. After reaching phase III in clinical trials, its production was discontinued in 2017 due to its non-superiority to current therapies.
See also
*
Cadazolid
*
Fidaxomicin
Fidaxomicin, sold under the brand name Dificid (by Merck) among others, is the first member of a class of narrow spectrum macrocyclic antibiotic drugs called tiacumicins. It is a fermentation product obtained from the actinomycete '' Dactylosp ...
*
Ridinilazole
Ridinilazole (previously known as SMT19969) is an investigational small molecule antibiotic under evaluation for oral administration for the treatment of Clostridioides difficile infection, ''Clostridioides difficile'' infection (CDI). In vitro, ...
*
SCHEMBL19952957
References
Antibiotics
Macrolides
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