An overview of lefamulin for the treatment of community acquired bacterial pneumonia

INTRODUCTION: Lefamulin is a novel antibiotic that belongs to the pleuromutilin class with excellent activity against all microorganisms, including atypical pathogens, that cause community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). AREAS COVERED: This article reviews the spectrum of activity, the main pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic characteristics of lefamulin as well as its clinical efficacy and safety in the treatment of CAP in adult patients. EXPERT OPINION: The clinical efficacy of lefamulin in patients with non severe CAP has been demonstrated in 2 randomized clinical trials. Precisely one of the limitations of the phase 3 trials is that the proportion of severe CAP cases is very low. Its particular mechanism of action, affecting ribosomal protein synthesis, provides a low probability of cross-resistance to other commonly used antibiotics in CAP. These findings, together with the antimicrobial activity of lefamulin, its pharmacokinetic parameters and safety profile make it a good alternative for outpatient treatment of CAP. In patients hospitalized with CAP, lefamulin can be used as a potential oral step-down agent after an intravenous regimen with beta-lactams, or as a therapeutic alternative in patients with β-lactam allergies.