Merck Ditches Life-Saving Antibiotic Amid Growing Resistance Concerns

Merck has discontinued Recarbrio, an intravenous antibiotic used to treat serious hospital infections with limited treatment options in the United States. The decision was made without any safety or quality concerns being cited by the company.

The affected patients are a small but vulnerable group, as Recarbrio is reserved for hospital-acquired pneumonia, complicated urinary tract and abdominal infections where other treatments have failed. According to Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease physician at Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security, alternative options such as ceftazidime-avibactam, meropenem-vaborbactam, and cefiderocol remain available for KPC-producing infections.

The discontinuation of Recarbrio is a concern, particularly for patients with difficult-to-treat Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections, as it was one of the preferred options. Dr. Brad Spellberg, chief medical officer at Los Angeles General Medical Center, however, expressed that he was not surprised by the withdrawal, stating that the drug 'was not in any way meaningfully differentiated from multiple other drugs on the market.'