A new antibiotic has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat three different infections, giving health care providers a new tool in their toolkit. Zevtera received approval on Wednesday for treating adults with Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) bloodstream infections, including those with right-sided infective endocarditis; adults with acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections; and adults and children with community-acquired bacterial pneumonia. The antibiotic is manufactured by Swiss pharmaceutical company Basilea Pharmaceutica. Researchers conducted a randomized, controlled, double-blind, multinational trial to test Zevtera’s efficacy against each of the infections listed above. In one study, researchers assigned 390 patients with S. aureus to receive either Zevtera or another antibiotic. Of those who received Zevtera, 69.8 percent saw symptoms improve and cleared the infection compared to 68.7 percent who received the other antibiotic. “Complicated Staphylococcus aureus infections have a high mortality rate and are associated with substantial morbidity,“ Dr. Vance G. Fowler, the study’s lead investigator, said in a Basilea Pharmaceutica news release. ”We need more options for treating these infections, especially if MRSA (methicillin-resistant S. aureus) is involved.” In a study on patients with acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections, 679 affected patients received either Zevtera or another combination of antibiotics. The study endpoints included whether the antibiotic would reduce skin lesions by at least 20 percent and sustain patient survival for at least 72 hours. The medication was also supposed to eliminate the need for further antibacterial treatment or unplanned surgery. Of those who received Zevtera, 91.3 percent achieved a timely clinical response compared to 88.1 percent who received the other medication. Basilea Pharmaceutica expects to make the antibiotic available to the U.S. market by midyear. The drug was granted 10-year market exclusivity. “Whilst our initial goal was to announce a commercial partnership by the time Zevtera was approved in the US, in order to explore fully all potential partnering opportunities, we now expect to complete the process around mid-year,” Adesh Kaul, Basilea’s chief financial officer, said in the Basilea release. “In parallel, we are also taking preparatory steps to shorten the launch timelines, once we have entered into a commercialization partnership.”