Dificlir recommended for Clostridioides difficile infection by ESCMID

Switzerland-based Tillotts Pharma, part of the Japanese Zeria Group, welcomes the recommendation that its Dificlir (fidaxomicin) should be used for the initial treatment and first recurrence of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) in updated guidance from the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID).

ESCMID guidance is now consistent with the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) guidelines which also recommend fidaxomicin for initial and recurrent episodes of CDI.

In one clinical trial the rates of clinical cure with fidaxomicin were noninferior to those with vancomycin (88.2% with fidaxomicin and 85.8% with vancomycin). Significantly fewer patients in the fidaxomicin group than in the vancomycin group had a recurrence of the infection (15.4% vs. 25.3%, P=0.005). Clinical cure noninferiority was also demonstrated in a separate trial (87.7% with fidaxomicin and 86.8% with vancomycin). In this trial similar outcomes were seen in the modified intention-to-treat treatment groups, although patients receiving concomitant antibiotics for other infections had a higher cure rate with fidaxomicin than vancomycin (90.2% with fidaxomicin and 73.3% with vancomycin, P=0.031).