The ATTAIN trials: efficacy and safety of telavancin compared with vancomycin for the treatment of hospital-acquired and ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia

Hospital-acquired bacterial pneumonia (HABP) is the second most common nosocomial infection in the USA and the leading cause of mortality among hospital-acquired infections. An increasing proportion of HABP cases are the result of infection with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Telavancin is a once-daily injectable, semisynthetic lipoglycopeptide antimicrobial with bactericidal activity against susceptible Gram-positive pathogens, including MRSA. The two methodologically identical Phase III ATTAIN studies demonstrated that telavancin was noninferior to vancomycin for the treatment of HABP, including ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia, due to S. aureus (including methicillin-sensitive S. aureus and MRSA). Telavancin showed a similar safety profile to vancomycin, except that in patients with moderate-to-severe renal impairment, there was increased mortality, which warrants caution when using telavancin in this population. Now approved in the USA for the treatment of HABP, including ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia, caused by susceptible isolates of S. aureus when other alternatives are not suitable, telavancin offers another therapeutic option.