Theravance declares success in antibiotic trial

Theravance shares were on the decline this morning despite some upbeat news from its pivotal trial on the antibiotic telavancin. Studies involving more than 1,800 volunteers demonstrated that the injectable antibiotic for skin infections is just as effective as vancomycin while demonstrating greater bacteria death (telavancin 89.9 percent versus vancomycin 85.4 percent) and cure rates (telavancin 90.6 percent versus vancomycin 86.4 percent). "With the data from this program, telavancin has the opportunity to become an important new medicine for the treatment of serious Gram-positive infections," said Rick E. Winningham, CEO of the South San Francisco-based Theravance.

"With the incidence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections on the rise, it is imperative that clinicians have effective alternatives in the treatment of these difficult infections," said Dr. Sef Kurstjens, head of research and development at Astellas Pharma, which has signed on as a marketing partner for the drug.

- read the report on the trial data from TheStreet.com