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New York Times
03-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Sabres thoughts: The Bowen Byram situation could define Kevyn Adams' summer
BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Sabres might not be done tweaking their roster, but general manager Kevyn Adams is running out of options to improve this team. When he addressed reporters Wednesday, roughly 24 hours after NHL free agency had opened, he expressed confidence in the roster he has now. 'We like where our group is at in terms of where our roster sits today, but we'll always look to get better if there's something that makes sense,' he said. Advertisement That's a similar refrain to the one Adams had this time last year after he re-worked Buffalo's fourth line and signed Jason Zucker. A few days after free agency opened, Adams ended up trading top prospect Matt Savoie for Ryan McLeod in what was arguably the most impactful move he made all summer. But that team last season finished with 79 points and spent a large chunk of the season in last place in the Eastern Conference. So while there might still be moves coming this summer, the question on July 3 is whether Adams has done enough to end this playoff drought. It's the same question Sabres fans have been asking ever since this version of the Sabres teased fans with a 91-point season in 2022-23. That summer, Adams stood by his roster, making a few additions on defense and bringing back the same forward group. The next season was a step back, and the offseason brought a coaching change and five new forwards. That resulted in yet another step back. Now, here we are again in a familiar offseason. Adams is back for a sixth season and walking a tightrope of his own creation. His first move of the summer was trading 23-year-old forward JJ Peterka, who wanted out of Buffalo after just three seasons. Adams got back defenseman Michael Kesselring and winger Josh Doan, two players who fill clear needs for the Sabres. He's facing a similar dilemma with Bowen Byram. The 24-year-old defenseman is a restricted free agent after setting a career high with 38 points. Adams views him as an elite defenseman, but Byram hasn't yet put pen to paper on a contract, trade rumors are swirling and now there's the threat of an offer sheet. Adams emphatically stated that the Sabres are prepared to match any offer sheet. He said the team has been 'strategic' about saving cap space for just that possibility. That cap space could become a point of contention again when the dust settles this offseason. The Sabres currently have $12.8 million in cap space with only Byram, defenseman Conor Timmins and goalie Devon Levi still to sign. Levi could start the year in Rochester. Adams is being a little extra cautious about the possibility of a Byram offer sheet of $9 million or more. Advertisement But if he trades Byram, his preference is to do it for players who will help the Sabres be a better team this season. That might mean getting multiple players like in the Peterka trade. It might mean packaging a pick or prospect with Byram to get a better player than Byram. Either way, it's an acknowledgement that there are clearly ways to still improve this team. At the moment, the plan looks like it will be to replace Peterka's goals by committee. Doan could chip in some offense. Zach Benson, Jiri Kulich and Jack Quinn could all take steps forward. But that feels like asking for a lot to go right. The real objective of the offseason, though, was to allow fewer goals. Only the Blackhawks and Sharks allowed more goals than the Sabres did last season. Buffalo's additions on defense should help, and so should the forwards they added. This team will be tougher and more defensively responsible. But subtracting Byram from that picture would make things murkier depending on what comes back in that trade. That's what makes judging this offseason tricky. The Byram situation will help define the summer. If he's back, is this roster good enough to make the playoffs? And if he's not, do the pieces coming back change that equation? If the answer to either of those questions is no, this offseason will again be defined by the players who wanted to leave Buffalo. 'We have to win hockey games,' Adams said when asked about the idea that players don't want to come to Buffalo because of the persistent losing. 'I could stand up here and I can lay out our plan. I can tell you exactly why we've made the decisions we've made. I can tell you why I think we've done a good job in terms of putting ourselves in a strategic position when it comes to the Byram situation. But ultimately we have to win games starting in October. If we win hockey games, we earn the respect around the league.' Here's what else we gathered from Adams' media availability. 1. As of July 1, Alex Tuch is eligible to sign a contract extension. He was the best two-way forward the Sabres had last season. He had 36 goals and 31 assists but also led the NHL in short-handed goals and set a new NHL record for blocked shots in a season for a forward with 113. Add in what he brings as a leader in the locker room and the community, and Tuch is one of Buffalo's most important players. His next contract should be a big one, likely exceeding $8 million per season. Adams met with Tuch's agents this week. The two sides had previously met at the NHL Scouting Combine. Adams said before the draft he's assured Tuch that he's a priority. 'Obviously there's not a pressure point like there is in other situations,' Adams said. 'I did sit down with his agents yesterday or whatever the day was recently and just explained exactly how we feel about Alex. That will be ongoing. There's not the pressure point with other decisions at this point.' Advertisement That pressure point will soon present itself, though. Tuch has one year left on a contract that pays him $4.75 million per year. He'd be sought after on the trade market and would also be a commodity if he were to hit unrestricted free agency next season. The longer Tuch goes unsigned, the more pressure Adams should feel to get it done. 2. The decision to not extend a qualifying offer to Jacob Bernard-Docker was a surprising one for reasons we covered earlier this week. Adams said the team viewed him as an eighth defenseman on their depth chart. Had the Sabres qualified Bernard-Docker, he would have had a chance to go to arbitration and get a reward that would have been higher than the $875,000 salary the Red Wings gave him. Of course, the Sabres could have walked away from the ruling if it was higher than they wanted to pay. If they held on to him, maybe they could have gotten a draft pick for him. But what this comes down to is the Sabres viewed Bernard-Docker as their eighth defenseman, which is to say, they didn't have a lot of faith in him. That surprised me considering Adams spoke at the end of the season about Bernard-Docker playing well with Owen Power. The depth chart now has a lot more lefties on defense than righties, but Adams said he was comfortable with the balance. 3. The Sabres traded away Sam Lafferty for a sixth-round pick and replaced his role with Justin Danforth, a 32-year old forward who can play center and wing. His two-year contract that pays $1.8 million per year suggests he will have a semi-permanent place in Buffalo's lineup to start. Danforth can play center and wing and was one of the top forecheckers in the league last season when it comes to recovering dump-ins. Adams deferred the decision on where Danforth would play to Lindy Ruff, but said he's a valuable 'glue guy' in the locker room. 4. Mason Geertsen has not played in the NHL since 2021-22 when he was with the New Jersey Devils. He's been stuck in the AHL since that season. But he might have a chance to occasionally crack Buffalo's lineup. Geertsen is a known tough guy, willing and able to fight. Adams didn't mince words about that particular role. 'We needed it,' he said. 'I just think that it's a unique skill set and he brings it and he's proven it.' Both Buffalo and Rochester have been lacking that type of presence, so wherever Geertsen plays, he'll be welcome. Advertisement 5. Because people are always curious this time of year, let's touch on some of the free agents still available. Nikolaj Ehlers is the biggest name out there, but that doesn't seem like a realistic target for Buffalo. Jack Roslovic is an intriguing name coming off a 22-goal season in Carolina. He's a bit of a one-dimensional player, but he would help replace some of Peterka's offense at a smaller cost. The defenseman to watch is Dmitry Orlov. He took a step back last season, but if the Sabres move Byram, he's one of the few players left on the free-agent market who might be able to replace him. But the market is pretty picked over at this point. (Top photo of Bowen Byram: Timothy T. Ludwig / Imagn Images)
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
NHL 25 HUT Fantasy Hockey Updates Through Apr. 14 Including Five New 99s
Back with a big NHL 25 HUT Fantasy Hockey update, 14 players received upgrades this week including five new 99 overall cards. Mason Marchment, Jason Zucker, Kyle Palmieri, Conor Garland, and Vincent Trocheck are all now up to 99 overall. Defensemen Travis Sanheim and Gustav Forsling made big leaps, getting up to 98 and 97 overall respectively. Anze Kopitar (95), Casey Mittlestadt (94) and Ryan O'Reilly (94) put themselves in position to get close to 99 overall before the regular season ends. Mikael Backlund is up to 93 while Nino Niederreiter is now 92. Lawson Crouse is up to 86, likely leaving him unusable depending on the quality of your team. Backlund, Niederreiter, Charlie Coyle, Kevin Fiala (x2), and Erik Haula all scored since the last update and will receive their upgrades during Tuesday's content update. Check out HUT Corner Stones Event Week 2, April Fools' content release and Team of the Season Week 1. For more NHL 25 news make sure you bookmark The Hockey News Gaming Site or follow our Google News Feed. For gaming discussion check out our forum.
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
New antibiotic is effective against gonorrhea, could be first new treatment since 1990s, study says
A new type of antibiotic for treatment of urinary tract infections in women could also work against gonorrhea infections, a new study finds. This could put the medication, called gepotidacin, on track to become the first new antibiotic for gonorrhea since the 1990s. 'Gepotidacin is a novel oral antibacterial treatment with the potential to become an alternative option for the treatment of gonococcal infections, supported by an acceptable safety and tolerability profile,' the researchers wrote in the study published Monday in The Lancet, adding that the drug 'could mark a meaningful advancement in patient care.' As an antibiotic, gepotidacin works by inhibiting bacteria from replicating in the body. In March, it was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to treat uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women and girls ages 12 and older. Recurrent UTIs have become a bigger problem as the bacteria that cause them have become more resistant to the antibiotics available to treat them. Now, there is new hope that gepotidacin may help fight drug-resistant gonorrhea. 'The big takeaway is that having additional treatment options for gonorrhea is fantastic,' said Dr. Jason Zucker, an infectious disease and sexually transmitted infections expert and assistant professor of medicine at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, who was not involved in the new study. Effective treatments for gonorrhea have become increasingly limited in recent years due to the global rise of antimicrobial resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the bacteria that cause gonorrhea, rendering many previously used first-line antibiotics ineffective. The current standard of care involves an intramuscular injection of the antibiotic ceftriaxone, which requires a visit to a care facility. A key benefit of gepotidacin is that it would not involve an injection at the doctor's office, which could make treating gonorrhea more convenient for patients, Zucker said. 'Right now, patients come in, especially if they are not having symptoms, if they test positive, we have to ask them to come back. For some people, that's not so easy,' he said. 'So obviously, the ability to have the pharmacy send treatment to their house, or have them be able to pick it up, would really make things a lot easier for people and reduce the number of doctor visits they have, especially if they have jobs where they don't have a lot of time off.' Gonorrhea can lead to serious health problems if left untreated, and though rare, can even spread to the blood or joints. Among women, untreated gonorrhea can cause an infection of the reproductive organs called pelvic inflammatory disease, which can lead to a greater risk of pregnancy complications and infertility. In men, gonorrhea also can lead to infertility in rare cases. In the United States, gonorrhea and other sexually transmitted infections or STIs have become more common. Reported cases of three nationally notifiable STIs – chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis – were up 90% in the US in 2023 compared with about two decades prior in 2004, according to data released last year by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 2.4 million cases of STIs were reported in 2023 nationally. The Phase 3 trial, conducted between October 2019 and October 2023, included more than 600 people ages 12 and older who were diagnosed with gonorrhea in the urogenital area across six countries: Australia, Germany, Mexico, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. The study was funded by the pharmaceutical company GSK, which developed the antibiotic, and the development of gepotidacin was funded in part with federal funds from the US Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, according to GSK. About half of the study participants were treated with a gepotidacin regimen of two oral doses administered about 10 to 12 hours apart, at 3,000-milligrams per dose. The other participants were provided with the current standard treatment of administering a single dose of the antibiotic ceftriaxone as an injection paired with orally taking the antibiotic azithromycin. The trial data, which is being presented at the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases conference, showed that gepotidacin was as effective as the current leading combination treatment, and was also effective against treatment-resistant infections, which occur when strains of gonorrhea are resistant to currently used antibiotics. The gonorrhea infections were cured among 92.6% of the study participants who were administered gepotidacin compared with 91.2% of the study participants who were treated with ceftriaxone plus azithromycin. Among the 7.4% of participants in the gepotidacin group who were not successfully treated, they all were due to missing data, according to GSK, which added that 'in participants with complete data, there was no bacterial persistence at the urogenital body site.' While the study primarily assessed gepotidacin as a treatment for urogenital gonorrhea, some participants with rectal and throat infections were evaluated. Of those with complete data, the study showed that it was more difficult to treat gonorrhea in the throat compared with other body sites, as 14 out of 16 people with throat gonorrhea and complete data – 88% – were successfully treated. The researchers wrote that the prevalence of throat infections 'warrants further investigation' in a larger group of participants, as does studying the efficacy of geptodiacin in the treatment of gonorrhea in the throat. 'Pharyngeal gonorrhea is notoriously harder to treat and plays a key role in silent transmission and resistance development, so having reliable oral options at all anatomical sites is critical,' Zucker, said. The international team of researchers found no life-threatening nor fatal side effects associated with either treatment approach used in the study, but the gepotidacin group had higher rates of side effects compared with the ceftriaxone-plus-azithromycin group, which were mostly gastrointestinal, such as diarrhea and nausea, and almost all were mild or moderate, according to the study. 'One of the challenges is that a lot of oral antibiotics have GI side effects,' Zucker said. The researchers noted that it will be important to investigate the efficacy of gepotidacin for treating gonorrhea in groups not primarily represented in the study especially women and Black and Brown communities, as 92% of participants in the study were men, 74% were White and 71% were men who have sex with men. If gepotidacin is approved for the treatment of gonorrhea in the United States, 'the price will be disclosed when the product will be supplied in a market. Our approach would be for it to reflect the value and outcomes they bring to patients, providers and payers while being sensitive to market and societal expectations,' according to a GSK spokesperson. Bluejepa, the brand name for the version of gepotidacin approved in the United States to treat UTIs, is expected to be available in the second half of 2025. The new study was 'very well-done' with 'rigorous data,' and having more options to treat gonorrhea is critical for slowing down the bacteria's drug resistance, said Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, a clinical professor of public health at the University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine in Los Angeles, who was not involved in the trial. 'The more options doctors have to treat gonorrhea means that they do not have to use the same drug over and over again, which is a recipe for disaster and more resistance. We know that using the same drug over and over again leads to drug resistance,' Klausner said in the email. 'If gepotidacin is approved and recommended for gonorrhea treatment, that is a true advance and will greatly help our efforts to slow down drug resistance in gonorrhea.' In the study, researchers noted that using gepotidacin to treat gonorrhea as an oral treatment option, not an injection, may be more efficient and reduces the risk of persistent, drug-resistant infections. Yet there is some concern that strains of gonorrhea may eventually develop resistance to gepotidacin, according to a comment paper accompanying the new study in The Lancet. 'In our opinion, N gonorrhoeae will also develop gepotidacin resistance when the selective pressure increases and where compliance to the dual-dose regimen is suboptimal,' Magnus Unemo of Örebro University in Sweden and Teodora Wi of the World Health Organization in Switzerland wrote in the paper. 'Due to the inherent ability of gonococci to develop resistance, difficulties in increasing the gepotidacin dose due to adverse events, and the lack of other treatment options, preclinical and clinical development of additional gonorrhoea treatments remains important,' they wrote. 'In conclusion, gepotidacin is promising for the treatment of gonorrhoea, but the challenges to retain gonorrhoea as a treatable infection will continue.'
CNN
14-04-2025
- Health
- CNN
New antibiotic is effective against gonorrhea, could be first new treatment since 1990s, study says
A new type of antibiotic for treatment of urinary tract infections in women could also work against gonorrhea infections, a new study finds. This could put the medication, called gepotidacin, on track to become the first new antibiotic for gonorrhea since the 1990s. 'Gepotidacin is a novel oral antibacterial treatment with the potential to become an alternative option for the treatment of gonococcal infections, supported by an acceptable safety and tolerability profile,' the researchers wrote in the study published Monday in The Lancet, adding that the drug 'could mark a meaningful advancement in patient care.' As an antibiotic, gepotidacin works by inhibiting bacteria from replicating in the body. In March, it was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to treat uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women and girls ages 12 and older. Recurrent UTIs have become a bigger problem as the bacteria that cause them have become more resistant to the antibiotics available to treat them. Now, there is new hope that gepotidacin may help fight drug-resistant gonorrhea. 'The big takeaway is that having additional treatment options for gonorrhea is fantastic,' said Dr. Jason Zucker, an infectious disease and sexually transmitted infections expert and assistant professor of medicine at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, who was not involved in the new study. Effective treatments for gonorrhea have become increasingly limited in recent years due to the global rise of antimicrobial resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the bacteria that cause gonorrhea, rendering many previously used first-line antibiotics ineffective. The current standard of care involves an intramuscular injection of the antibiotic ceftriaxone, which requires a visit to a care facility. A key benefit of gepotidacin is that it would not involve an injection at the doctor's office, which could make treating gonorrhea more convenient for patients, Zucker said. 'Right now, patients come in, especially if they are not having symptoms, if they test positive, we have to ask them to come back. For some people, that's not so easy,' he said. 'So obviously, the ability to have the pharmacy send treatment to their house, or have them be able to pick it up, would really make things a lot easier for people and reduce the number of doctor visits they have, especially if they have jobs where they don't have a lot of time off.' Gonorrhea can lead to serious health problems if left untreated, and though rare, can even spread to the blood or joints. Among women, untreated gonorrhea can cause an infection of the reproductive organs called pelvic inflammatory disease, which can lead to a greater risk of pregnancy complications and infertility. In men, gonorrhea also can lead to infertility in rare cases. In the United States, gonorrhea and other sexually transmitted infections or STIs have become more common. Reported cases of three nationally notifiable STIs – chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis – were up 90% in the US in 2023 compared with about two decades prior in 2004, according to data released last year by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 2.4 million cases of STIs were reported in 2023 nationally. The Phase 3 trial, conducted between October 2019 and October 2023, included more than 600 people ages 12 and older who were diagnosed with gonorrhea in the urogenital area across six countries: Australia, Germany, Mexico, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. The study was funded by the pharmaceutical company GSK, which developed the antibiotic, and the development of gepotidacin was funded in part with federal funds from the US Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, according to GSK. About half of the study participants were treated with a gepotidacin regimen of two oral doses administered about 10 to 12 hours apart, at 3,000-milligrams per dose. The other participants were provided with the current standard treatment of administering a single dose of the antibiotic ceftriaxone as an injection paired with orally taking the antibiotic azithromycin. The trial data, which is being presented at the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases conference, showed that gepotidacin was as effective as the current leading combination treatment, and was also effective against treatment-resistant infections, which occur when strains of gonorrhea are resistant to currently used antibiotics. The gonorrhea infections were cured among 92.6% of the study participants who were administered gepotidacin compared with 91.2% of the study participants who were treated with ceftriaxone plus azithromycin. Among the 7.4% of participants in the gepotidacin group who were not successfully treated, they all were due to missing data, according to GSK, which added that 'in participants with complete data, there was no bacterial persistence at the urogenital body site.' While the study primarily assessed gepotidacin as a treatment for urogenital gonorrhea, some participants with rectal and throat infections were evaluated. Of those with complete data, the study showed that it was more difficult to treat gonorrhea in the throat compared with other body sites, as 14 out of 16 people with throat gonorrhea and complete data – 88% – were successfully treated. The researchers wrote that the prevalence of throat infections 'warrants further investigation' in a larger group of participants, as does studying the efficacy of geptodiacin in the treatment of gonorrhea in the throat. 'Pharyngeal gonorrhea is notoriously harder to treat and plays a key role in silent transmission and resistance development, so having reliable oral options at all anatomical sites is critical,' Zucker, said. The international team of researchers found no life-threatening nor fatal side effects associated with either treatment approach used in the study, but the gepotidacin group had higher rates of side effects compared with the ceftriaxone-plus-azithromycin group, which were mostly gastrointestinal, such as diarrhea and nausea, and almost all were mild or moderate, according to the study. 'One of the challenges is that a lot of oral antibiotics have GI side effects,' Zucker said. The researchers noted that it will be important to investigate the efficacy of gepotidacin for treating gonorrhea in groups not primarily represented in the study especially women and Black and Brown communities, as 92% of participants in the study were men, 74% were White and 71% were men who have sex with men. If gepotidacin is approved for the treatment of gonorrhea in the United States, 'the price will be disclosed when the product will be supplied in a market. Our approach would be for it to reflect the value and outcomes they bring to patients, providers and payers while being sensitive to market and societal expectations,' according to a GSK spokesperson. Bluejepa, the brand name for the version of gepotidacin approved in the United States to treat UTIs, is expected to be available in the second half of 2025. The new study was 'very well-done' with 'rigorous data,' and having more options to treat gonorrhea is critical for slowing down the bacteria's drug resistance, said Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, a clinical professor of public health at the University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine in Los Angeles, who was not involved in the trial. 'The more options doctors have to treat gonorrhea means that they do not have to use the same drug over and over again, which is a recipe for disaster and more resistance. We know that using the same drug over and over again leads to drug resistance,' Klausner said in the email. 'If gepotidacin is approved and recommended for gonorrhea treatment, that is a true advance and will greatly help our efforts to slow down drug resistance in gonorrhea.' In the study, researchers noted that using gepotidacin to treat gonorrhea as an oral treatment option, not an injection, may be more efficient and reduces the risk of persistent, drug-resistant infections. Yet there is some concern that strains of gonorrhea may eventually develop resistance to gepotidacin, according to a comment paper accompanying the new study in The Lancet. 'In our opinion, N gonorrhoeae will also develop gepotidacin resistance when the selective pressure increases and where compliance to the dual-dose regimen is suboptimal,' Magnus Unemo of Örebro University in Sweden and Teodora Wi of the World Health Organization in Switzerland wrote in the paper. 'Due to the inherent ability of gonococci to develop resistance, difficulties in increasing the gepotidacin dose due to adverse events, and the lack of other treatment options, preclinical and clinical development of additional gonorrhoea treatments remains important,' they wrote. 'In conclusion, gepotidacin is promising for the treatment of gonorrhoea, but the challenges to retain gonorrhoea as a treatable infection will continue.'
CNN
14-04-2025
- Health
- CNN
New antibiotic is effective against gonorrhea, could be first new treatment since 1990s, study says
A new type of antibiotic for treatment of urinary tract infections in women could also work against gonorrhea infections, a new study finds. This could put the medication, called gepotidacin, on track to become the first new antibiotic for gonorrhea since the 1990s. 'Gepotidacin is a novel oral antibacterial treatment with the potential to become an alternative option for the treatment of gonococcal infections, supported by an acceptable safety and tolerability profile,' the researchers wrote in the study published Monday in The Lancet, adding that the drug 'could mark a meaningful advancement in patient care.' As an antibiotic, gepotidacin works by inhibiting bacteria from replicating in the body. In March, it was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to treat uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women and girls ages 12 and older. Recurrent UTIs have become a bigger problem as the bacteria that cause them have become more resistant to the antibiotics available to treat them. Now, there is new hope that gepotidacin may help fight drug-resistant gonorrhea. 'The big takeaway is that having additional treatment options for gonorrhea is fantastic,' said Dr. Jason Zucker, an infectious disease and sexually transmitted infections expert and assistant professor of medicine at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, who was not involved in the new study. Effective treatments for gonorrhea have become increasingly limited in recent years due to the global rise of antimicrobial resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the bacteria that cause gonorrhea, rendering many previously used first-line antibiotics ineffective. The current standard of care involves an intramuscular injection of the antibiotic ceftriaxone, which requires a visit to a care facility. A key benefit of gepotidacin is that it would not involve an injection at the doctor's office, which could make treating gonorrhea more convenient for patients, Zucker said. 'Right now, patients come in, especially if they are not having symptoms, if they test positive, we have to ask them to come back. For some people, that's not so easy,' he said. 'So obviously, the ability to have the pharmacy send treatment to their house, or have them be able to pick it up, would really make things a lot easier for people and reduce the number of doctor visits they have, especially if they have jobs where they don't have a lot of time off.' Gonorrhea can lead to serious health problems if left untreated, and though rare, can even spread to the blood or joints. Among women, untreated gonorrhea can cause an infection of the reproductive organs called pelvic inflammatory disease, which can lead to a greater risk of pregnancy complications and infertility. In men, gonorrhea also can lead to infertility in rare cases. In the United States, gonorrhea and other sexually transmitted infections or STIs have become more common. Reported cases of three nationally notifiable STIs – chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis – were up 90% in the US in 2023 compared with about two decades prior in 2004, according to data released last year by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 2.4 million cases of STIs were reported in 2023 nationally. The Phase 3 trial, conducted between October 2019 and October 2023, included more than 600 people ages 12 and older who were diagnosed with gonorrhea in the urogenital area across six countries: Australia, Germany, Mexico, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. The study was funded by the pharmaceutical company GSK, which developed the antibiotic, and the development of gepotidacin was funded in part with federal funds from the US Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, according to GSK. About half of the study participants were treated with a gepotidacin regimen of two oral doses administered about 10 to 12 hours apart, at 3,000-milligrams per dose. The other participants were provided with the current standard treatment of administering a single dose of the antibiotic ceftriaxone as an injection paired with orally taking the antibiotic azithromycin. The trial data, which is being presented at the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases conference, showed that gepotidacin was as effective as the current leading combination treatment, and was also effective against treatment-resistant infections, which occur when strains of gonorrhea are resistant to currently used antibiotics. The gonorrhea infections were cured among 92.6% of the study participants who were administered gepotidacin compared with 91.2% of the study participants who were treated with ceftriaxone plus azithromycin. Among the 7.4% of participants in the gepotidacin group who were not successfully treated, they all were due to missing data, according to GSK, which added that 'in participants with complete data, there was no bacterial persistence at the urogenital body site.' While the study primarily assessed gepotidacin as a treatment for urogenital gonorrhea, some participants with rectal and throat infections were evaluated. Of those with complete data, the study showed that it was more difficult to treat gonorrhea in the throat compared with other body sites, as 14 out of 16 people with throat gonorrhea and complete data – 88% – were successfully treated. The researchers wrote that the prevalence of throat infections 'warrants further investigation' in a larger group of participants, as does studying the efficacy of geptodiacin in the treatment of gonorrhea in the throat. 'Pharyngeal gonorrhea is notoriously harder to treat and plays a key role in silent transmission and resistance development, so having reliable oral options at all anatomical sites is critical,' Zucker, said. The international team of researchers found no life-threatening nor fatal side effects associated with either treatment approach used in the study, but the gepotidacin group had higher rates of side effects compared with the ceftriaxone-plus-azithromycin group, which were mostly gastrointestinal, such as diarrhea and nausea, and almost all were mild or moderate, according to the study. 'One of the challenges is that a lot of oral antibiotics have GI side effects,' Zucker said. The researchers noted that it will be important to investigate the efficacy of gepotidacin for treating gonorrhea in groups not primarily represented in the study especially women and Black and Brown communities, as 92% of participants in the study were men, 74% were White and 71% were men who have sex with men. If gepotidacin is approved for the treatment of gonorrhea in the United States, 'the price will be disclosed when the product will be supplied in a market. Our approach would be for it to reflect the value and outcomes they bring to patients, providers and payers while being sensitive to market and societal expectations,' according to a GSK spokesperson. Bluejepa, the brand name for the version of gepotidacin approved in the United States to treat UTIs, is expected to be available in the second half of 2025. The new study was 'very well-done' with 'rigorous data,' and having more options to treat gonorrhea is critical for slowing down the bacteria's drug resistance, said Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, a clinical professor of public health at the University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine in Los Angeles, who was not involved in the trial. 'The more options doctors have to treat gonorrhea means that they do not have to use the same drug over and over again, which is a recipe for disaster and more resistance. We know that using the same drug over and over again leads to drug resistance,' Klausner said in the email. 'If gepotidacin is approved and recommended for gonorrhea treatment, that is a true advance and will greatly help our efforts to slow down drug resistance in gonorrhea.' In the study, researchers noted that using gepotidacin to treat gonorrhea as an oral treatment option, not an injection, may be more efficient and reduces the risk of persistent, drug-resistant infections. Yet there is some concern that strains of gonorrhea may eventually develop resistance to gepotidacin, according to a comment paper accompanying the new study in The Lancet. 'In our opinion, N gonorrhoeae will also develop gepotidacin resistance when the selective pressure increases and where compliance to the dual-dose regimen is suboptimal,' Magnus Unemo of Örebro University in Sweden and Teodora Wi of the World Health Organization in Switzerland wrote in the paper. 'Due to the inherent ability of gonococci to develop resistance, difficulties in increasing the gepotidacin dose due to adverse events, and the lack of other treatment options, preclinical and clinical development of additional gonorrhoea treatments remains important,' they wrote. 'In conclusion, gepotidacin is promising for the treatment of gonorrhoea, but the challenges to retain gonorrhoea as a treatable infection will continue.'
