TREATING BURULI ULCER A REVIEW OF PROSPECTS FOR EXISTING ANTIBIOTICS AND NEW THERAPEUTICS
March 2013
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Table of Contents
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...... 2 2. INTRODUCTION ...... 3 3. METHODOLOGY ...... 6 4. IDENTIFICATION OF POTENTIAL ANTIBIOTICS FOR BURULI ULCER ...... 6 5. PROSPECTS FOR BURULI ULCER TREATMENT ...... 7 5.1 Antibiotics with clinical application for treatment of Buruli ulcer ...... 7 5.1.1 Clinical application of combination antibiotic regimens ...... 7 5.1.2 Laboratory-based data on individual antibiotics ...... 9 5.1.3 Laboratory-based data on combination antibiotic regimens ...... 11 5.2 Antibiotics that are suitable for or could be suitable for treatment of Buruli ulcer ...... 11 5.2.1 Other rifamycins (rifapentine, rifabutin) ...... 11 5.2.2 Dapsone ...... 13 5.2.3 Epiroprim (Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd) ...... 13 5.2.4 Diarylquinoline TMC207 (Johnson & Johnson) ...... 14 5.3 Antibiotics of unclear value due to lack of sufficient amount of data ...... 14 5.3.1 Amoxicillin-clavulanate and Co-trimoxazole ...... 15 5.3.2 Nitro-dihydro-imidazooxazole OPC-67683 (Otsuka Pharmaceuticals, Japan) ...... 15 5.3.3 Oxazolidinones: PNU-100480 (Pfizer) and AZD-5847 (AstraZeneca)...... 15 5.3.4 Benzothiazinone BTZ043 (NM4TB/AstraZeneca) ...... 16 5.3.5 Diamine SQ-109 (Sequella Inc.) ...... 16 5.4 Antibiotics that are not suitable for the treatment of Buruli ulcer ...... 16 6. TOWARD IDENTIFYING NEW BURULI ULCER CHEMOTHERAPEUTICS ...... 17 6.1 Short-term objective: Systematically identify all existing, orally administered drugs with activity against M. ulcerans and their relative potencies ...... 17 6.2 Short-term objective: Identify an orally administered combination regimen for Buruli ulcer disease using existing drugs ...... 20 6.3 Short-term objective: Explore the use of multi-drug combination therapy to shorten treatment duration ...... 21 6.4 Short-term objective: Establish the role of and timing for surgical intervention in Buruli ulcer treatment ...... 22 6.5 Long-term objective: Explore the use of new drugs for Buruli ulcer treatment ...... 23 7. CONCLUSIONS ...... 25 8. REFERENCES ...... 26
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Buruli ulcer disease is a serious necrotizing skin infection caused by the environmental pathogen Mycobacterium ulcerans and represents the third most common mycobacterial infection worldwide after tuberculosis and leprosy. This disease, if left untreated, can lead to disfiguring and disabling lesions, particularly affecting young populations in resource poor settings. Antibiotic treatment recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) since 2004 has simplified the delivery of care for Buruli ulcer and provided solid evidence that early and limited lesions can be effectively treated with antibiotics alone. However the current recommendations still present significant challenges including the use of aminoglycosides requiring intramuscular injection. These drugs are difficult and costly to administer in resource poor settings and have significant side effects that present major obstacles to implementation. Therefore, there is an urgent need to identify alternative oral regimens that can be effective, short course, all oral, compatible for use in pediatric population and have few drug drug interactions with antiretrovirals (ARVs).
The results of a literature review identified several drugs and drug candidates that demonstrated potential efficacy against Buruli ulcer with more attractive administration and toxicity profiles. However, data are fragmented, limiting the rigorous conclusions that can be drawn. Although recent studies indicate that a fully orally administered treatment regimen such as clarithromycin