In vitro activity of tebipenem and comparator agents against bacterial pathogens isolated from patients with cancer

Bahgat Gerges; Joel Rosenblatt; Samuel A Shellburne; Anne-Marie Chaftari; Ray Hachem; Issam Raad

doi:10.1093/jacamr/dlad132

In vitro activity of tebipenem and comparator agents against bacterial pathogens isolated from patients with cancer

JAC Antimicrob Resist. 2023 Dec 11;5(6):dlad132. doi: 10.1093/jacamr/dlad132. eCollection 2023 Dec.

Authors

Bahgat Gerges¹, Joel Rosenblatt¹, Samuel A Shellburne^{1

2}, Anne-Marie Chaftari¹, Ray Hachem¹, Issam Raad¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Infectious Diseases, Infection Control and Employee Health Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcomb Blvd, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
² Department of Genomic Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcomb Blvd, Houston, TX 77030, USA.

Abstract

Background: Tebipenem is a broad-spectrum orally administered carbapenem antibiotic that could be an alternative to IV carbapenems. The current study evaluated in vitro activity of tebipenem against bacterial isolates recovered from patients with cancer.

Methods: A total of 611 bacterial pathogens recently isolated from patients with cancer were tested for susceptibility to tebipenem and comparators. CLSI-approved broth microdilution methods were used. MIC₅₀, MIC₉₀, MIC range and percentage susceptibility calculations were made using FDA breakpoints when available.

Results: Tebipenem had a low MIC₉₀ for most Gram-positive and Enterobacterales isolates. Tebipenem MIC₉₀ ranged from 0.06 to 0.25 mg/L for all tested Enterobacterales.

Conclusions: Oral tebipenem has promising activity against clinically significant bacterial pathogens isolated from patients with cancer. Further clinical evaluation of tebipenem for the treatment of bacterial infections in patients with cancer is warranted.