The Story of ZYVOX | The Last Line of Defense
When Brickner, Hutchinson, Barbachyn and their teams gave us linezolid, what exactly did we get? In its seventh year on the market, ZYVOX has proven to be a major breakthrough in the treatment of some of the most dangerous bacterial infections on the planet. MRSA strains today cause up to 60-70 % of hospital-borne staph infections in the U.S. and Japan, and a more recently emerging superbug, vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE), is resistant to virtually all known antibiotics.
"That I was lucky enough to be involved in discovering a drug that has saved so many lives is to this day still a very hard concept to accept."
- Dr. Steven Brickner
In short, it is literally the last line of defense against the superbugs MRSA and VRE. For millions of people, ZYVOX has meant the difference between living and dying or keeping a limb and losing one. In measuring any drug’s clinical benefits, it doesn’t get any clearer than this.
There is, though, much more to ZYVOX’s place in the antibiotic armamentarium. To be precise, ZYVOX is approved for use against serious Gram-positive infections, including those caused by MRSA and VRE. It is used to treat community- and hospital-acquired pneumonia and bloodstream, skin and soft tissue infections, including diabetic foot infections (without concomitant osteomyelitis). ZYVOX is the only oral medicine approved for use against hospital-borne infections caused by MRSA and VRE. In fact, its 100 % bioavailability, a rarity in and of itself, simplifies (no dosage adjustment) and hastens the switch from intravenous therapy and lets the patient go home sooner, thereby saving precious healthcare dollars as well as limbs and lives.
"When I think ‘the drug actually does work,’ it really hits home that ZYVOX is helping people. It’s been incredibly rewarding."
- Dr. Michael Barbachyn
ZYVOX is also approved for use against Streptococcus pneumoniae. Indeed, it’s the only approved treatment for pneumonia caused by multi-drug resistant S. pneumoniae in the hospital setting.
"That I was lucky enough to be involved in discovering a drug that has saved so many lives is to this day still a very hard concept to accept."
- Dr. Steven Brickner
In short, it is literally the last line of defense against the superbugs MRSA and VRE. For millions of people, ZYVOX has meant the difference between living and dying or keeping a limb and losing one. In measuring any drug’s clinical benefits, it doesn’t get any clearer than this.
There is, though, much more to ZYVOX’s place in the antibiotic armamentarium. To be precise, ZYVOX is approved for use against serious Gram-positive infections, including those caused by MRSA and VRE. It is used to treat community- and hospital-acquired pneumonia and bloodstream, skin and soft tissue infections, including diabetic foot infections (without concomitant osteomyelitis). ZYVOX is the only oral medicine approved for use against hospital-borne infections caused by MRSA and VRE. In fact, its 100 % bioavailability, a rarity in and of itself, simplifies (no dosage adjustment) and hastens the switch from intravenous therapy and lets the patient go home sooner, thereby saving precious healthcare dollars as well as limbs and lives.
"When I think ‘the drug actually does work,’ it really hits home that ZYVOX is helping people. It’s been incredibly rewarding."
- Dr. Michael Barbachyn
ZYVOX is also approved for use against Streptococcus pneumoniae. Indeed, it’s the only approved treatment for pneumonia caused by multi-drug resistant S. pneumoniae in the hospital setting.