New antibiotic could treat drug-resistant gonorrhea: Study

A new class of antibiotic has been found to be safe and effective in treating gonorrhea in late-stage trials, according to a new study published Monday in The Lancet. 

The drug, called gepotidacin, works by preventing bacteria from replicating in the body and was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in March to treat uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women and in girls 12 years and older.  

If approved to treat gonorrhea, it will be the newest antibiotic to treat the sexually transmitted infection since the 1990s.  

The drug is manufactured by the pharmaceutical company GSK and is sold under the name Blujepa.  

After reaching a historic low in 2009, cases of gonorrhea in the United States steadily increased until 2021 and have slowly declined since then, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  

Still, gonorrhea is the second most common sexually transmitted infection in the country with, 601,319 reported cases in 2023, according to the agency.  

Gonorrhea, and other sexually transmitted infections, are becoming more difficult to treat as they become increasingly more resistant to existing antibiotics. 

The CDC currently recommends providers treat gonorrhea with a 500 mg injection of the antibiotic ceftriaxone. The agency updated its treatment guidelines in 2023, directing providers to administer a higher dose of the drug to combat antibiotic resistance. 

Justin Gill, an urgent care nurse practitioner and president of the Washington State Nurses Association, told The Hill that he frequently treats gonorrhea and has encountered cases of the infection that are resistant to ceftriaxone.  

“There are only a handful of antibiotics that are available as backup options,” he said. “The development of new antibiotics has been slow, but federal investment in new and emerging antibiotic options is necessary before resistant strains of gonorrhea expand further.”  

If left untreated, gonorrhea can cause serious health complications that can lead to infertility in both men and women, and it can increase the odds of contracting and passing HIV, according to the CDC.  

The trial of more than 620 people showed gepotidacin was about 92 percent effective in treating the infection among those who took the drug twice a day. Meanwhile, a regimen of combination ceftriaxone and azithromycin was about 91 percent effective.  

Stuart Ray, an infectious disease professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine who did not take part in the study, said that any progress in safely and effectively treating gonorrhea is “exciting.” He added that the fact that the drug can be administered in pill form makes it “attractive.”  

“In general, it’s very exciting to see a late-stage trial for a new antimicrobial for a thorny problem like gonorrhea,” he said. “I think it's very exciting to see data and progression of an agent this far down the path.” 

Ray said that of the more than 600 trial participants, less than 10 percent were women.  

“We have to be careful about making conclusions about subgroups that may have been somewhat underrepresented.”