Schering-Plough Corporation has received an approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for the once-daily, broad-spectrum antibiotic Avelox (moxifloxacin HCl) for the treatment of complicated intra-abdominal infections (cIAI) in adults.

Avelox is the only marketed fluoroquinolone antibiotic approved by the FDA as monotherapy to treat this indication. The FDA approval to treat cIAI is the sixth indication for Avelox, states a company release.

"The FDA approval of Avelox to treat complicated intra-abdominal infections is welcome news, providing doctors with an effective treatment option for their patients, and giving patients convenient once-daily dosing and an easy transition from intravenous (I.V.) formulations to oral therapy when they leave the hospital," said Joseph S. Solomkin, professor in the department of surgery and director of research of the division of trauma and critical care at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.

With this FDA approval, Avelox is indicated for the treatment of adults with cIAI, including polymicrobial infections such as abscesses caused by Escherichia coli, Bacteroides fragilis, Streptococcus anginosus, Streptococcus constellatus, Enterococcus faecalis, Proteus mirabilis, Clostridium perfringens, Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron or Peptostreptococcus species.

The release further states that the FDA approval was based on results from clinical studies in cIAI patients showing that sequential intravenous (I.V.) formulations or oral monotherapy with Avelox once daily was as effective as the widely used I.V. therapy piperacillin-tazobactam four times daily followed by oral amoxicillin-clavulanate twice daily. Avelox was effective at eradicating key pathogens, including E. coli and the anaerobe B. fragilis, which are the most commonly encountered bacteria in cIAI.

"This FDA approval signals yet another important milestone for Avelox, following the approval of Avelox for treatment of complicated skin and skin structure infections in June. By adding two new indications this year, Avelox has successfully expanded its utility as a broad-spectrum antibiotic. This will help toward Avelox becoming a fluoroquinolone of choice for its approved indications," said Robert J. Spiegel, chief medical officer and senior vice president of medical affairs, Schering-Plough Research Institute.

Avelox, available in tablet and intravenous (I.V.) formulations, was developed by Bayer Pharmaceuticals Corporation and is marketed in the United States by Schering-Plough

In October 2004, Schering-Plough acquired exclusive US rights to market, sell and distribute Avelox from Bayer Pharmaceuticals Corporation. As holder of the new drug application (NDA) and patents for Avelox, Bayer completed the research and FDA submission related to this new indication.

The FDA approval to treat cIAI is the sixth indication for Avelox, which is already approved in the United States to treat acute bacterial sinusitis (ABS); acute bacterial exacerbation of chronic bronchitis (ABECB); community acquired pneumonia (CAP), including CAP caused by multi-drug resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae (MRSP) and penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae (PRSP); uncomplicated skin and skin structure infections (uSSSI); and complicated skin and skin structure infections (cSSSI).

Intra-abdominal infections are caused by disease, trauma or surgery in the abdomen that cause bacteria to leak from the gastrointestinal tract into adjacent tissue. There are approximately 3.5 million cases in the United States each year, with many patients contracting the infection secondary to appendicitis.