This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.

Dalbavancin efficacy comparable to vancomycin for skin infections

Efficacy of once-weekly intravenous dalbavancin was comparable to twice-daily intravenous vancomycin for the treatment of acute bacterial skin infections, according to recent trial results.

The Discover 1 and Discover 2 trials were double-blind, double-dummy, multicenter, randomized trials conducted over a 1-year period at 54 and 86 investigational sites, respectively.

Patients received either dalbavancin intravenously on days 1 and 8 or vancomycin intravenously for at least 3 days, with the option to switch to linezolid to complete 10 to 14 days of therapy, according to the researchers. Early clinical response — the trials’ primary endpoint — required absence of fever for 48 to 72 hours and cessation of infection-related erythema spread.

A pooled analysis of the trials’ results showed 525 of 659 patients (79.7%) in the dalbavancin group and 521 of 653 patients (79.8%) in the vancomycin-linezolid group achieved early clinical responses.

Dalbavancin and vancomycin-linezolid treatments had similar success in reducing the size of the infected area by 20% or more at 48 to 72 hours (88.6% vs. 88.1%, respectively).

Clinical success with regard to treatment of Staphylococcus aureus, including methicillin-resistant S. aureus, was achieved in 90.6% of dalbavancin recipients and 93.8% of vancomycin-linezolid recipients, according to the researchers.

Disclosure: See the study for a full list of all authors’ relevant financial disclosures.