UK aims for approval of first new antibiotic in more than 20 years to kill superbugs, which cause 1.7 million UTIs each year, outstripping drugs currently available to NHS patients

The first new antibiotic to treat painful bladder infections in more than 20 years has been approved in the UK after a landmark study showed it to be highly effective.

The drug, called potidacin, outperformed all antibiotics currently used to treat NHS patients suffering from the infections, curing more than half of the participants who took it.

Experts say hepotidazine, which was discovered in the UK, represents a major advance in the fight against antibiotic resistance, as the insects have not had a chance to develop resistance to the attacks.

These drug-resistant insects are responsible for tens of thousands of aggressive recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs) in the UK each year.

GSK, the pharmaceutical company that developed the drug, is in talks with UK medical regulators about green-lighting potidazine for NHS patients with drug-resistant infections.

Dozens of people in the UK have already undergone treatment as part of the global study, the results of which were presented at a scientific conference in Copenhagen yesterday.

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“This drug offers hope to patients with recurrent UTIs who need new treatment,” said Dr. Aruni Mulgirigama of GSK.

“This is a condition that can disrupt patients’ lives and make them tired from the experience of constantly fighting these infections. The data shows that this drug helps those most affected by these infections.”

Up to 1.7 million Britons – most of them women – suffer from chronic UTIs, which are classed as three or more infections a year. Symptoms include a burning pain when going to the toilet more often than usual and feeling like you have to go with an empty bladder.

In older patients, the infection can cause a dementia-like condition called delirium. There is also a risk of sepsis, which accounts for around 50,000 deaths each year.

Although there are a number of antibiotics that can treat UTIs, these drugs have lost effectiveness over time because bacteria can build resistance to antibiotics.

Studies suggest that the NHS treats around 150 drug-resistant bacterial infections every day. According to some estimates, up to 10,000 people die each year in the UK from these superbugs.

However, developing new antibiotics is time-consuming and expensive, and many large pharmaceutical companies no longer invest in antibiotic research. This means that despite the growing threat of superbugs, no new antibiotics have been developed for more than two decades.

Up to 1.7 million Britons – most of them women – suffer from chronic UTIs, classified as three or more infections a year (file photo)

However, Gepotidazine – first made in Stevenage – could quickly break this curse. The new data shows that more than 50 percent of patients who received the drug had their UTIs cured. In comparison, nitrofurantoin, a commonly used UTI antibiotic, cleared infections in 47 percent of patients.

The study shows that geotidazine is effective against drug-resistant forms of E.coli, the most common bacteria that cause urinary tract infections.

It has also been successful in treating patients with a history of recurrent UTIs, as well as those over 50 who are at greatest risk of severe UTIs.

Experts believe geotidazine could help thousands. “It’s great news that this has been proven to be such a useful new treatment for fighting UTIs,” says Dr. Cat Anderson, general practitioner and specialist in women’s health. “We’ve waited a long time for a new antibiotic.”