(Reuters) -The U.S. health regulator on Wednesday approved Cidara Therapeutics Inc’s drug, rezafungin, to treat a group of severe fungal infections that are most commonly faced by hospitalized patients, the company said.
The approval makes it the first new drug for treating the infections, candidemia and invasive candidiasis, in over a decade.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) decision is in line with recommendations made in January by a panel of outside experts, who voted 14-1 in favor of the drug’s use to treat the infections in adult patients with limited or no alternative treatment options.
Rezafungin is dosed once a week for patients, who have to depend on daily doses as part of current standard-of-care treatment.
Antibiotics maker Melinta Therapeutics, which has commercialization rights for the drug in the U.S. market, said it plans to make the drug available this summer.
(Reporting by Aditya Samal and Raghav Mahobe; Editing by Uttaresh Venkateshwaran and Shounak Dasgupta)
