Purpose: To assess the clinical efficacy and safety of delafloxacin for treating acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSIs) in adult patients. Patients and methods: The Cochrane Library, EBSCO, EMBASE, Ovid Medline, PubMed, and Web of Science databases were searched up to November 2018. Only randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that evaluated delafloxacin and other comparators for the treatment of ABSSSIs were included. The primary outcome was the clinical cure rate and the secondary outcomes were microbiological response and the risk of adverse events. Results: Four RCTs were included. Overall, delafloxacin exhibited a clinical cure rate similar to the rates of the comparator drugs in the treatment of ABSSSI (OR, 1.05; 95% CI, 0.87-1.27, I2 =16%) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)-associated ABSSSI (OR, 1.12; 95% CI, 0.71-1.77, I2 =0%). Delafloxacin had a microbiological eradication (documented and presumed) rate similar to the rates of the comparators in the treatment of ABSSSI (OR, 1.21; 95% CI, 0.58-2.50, I2 =0%) and MRSA-associated ABSSSIs (OR, 1.16; 95% CI, 0.37-3.60, I2 =0%). Delafloxacin and the comparators did not differ significantly in the risk of serious adverse events (AEs), treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs), and TEAEs related to the study drug. However, the risk of discontinuation of the study drug due to an AE was lower for delafloxacin than for the comparators (OR, 0.33; 95% CI, 0.15-0.74, I2 =0%). Conclusion: The clinical efficacy of delafloxacin is as high as that of the comparator drugs in the treatment of ABSSSI, including MRSA-associated infections; furthermore, this antibiotic is as well-tolerated as the comparators.
Keywords: MRSA; acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections; delafloxacin; efficacy; safety.