Palash Samanta, MBBS MD, has been awarded funding in the amount of $52,250 for a two-year study by the Merck Investigator Studies Program Review Committee (MISP-RC) entitled “Real-world experience of Imipenem-Relebactam (IMI/REL) for treating Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection in clinics”. The MISP operates to advance science and improve patient care by supporting, through the provision of drug/vaccine and/or total/partial funding, high-quality research that is initiated, designed, implemented and sponsored by external investigators.
The increasing incidence of multiple-drug resistant (MDR) Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA), (PA, including carbapenem-resistant) is a global problem. At our institution, this is particularly problematic, given the underlying medical problems of our patients (organ transplant, patients with ventilator-dependent respiratory failure requiring recurrent admissions for pneumonia, end-stage lung disease awaiting lung transplant, cystic fibrosis, etc.). In 2018, 25%, 26% and 31% of the PA isolates were resistant to piperacillin-tazobactam, cefepime and imipenem, respectively. The most common mechanisms of carbapenem resistance among the PA isolates are decreased expression of porin (OprD), increased efflux pump (meropenem and doripenem but not imipenem), and over-production of AmpC. A potential advantage of IMI/REL over meropenem-vaborbactam (MER/VAB) is that MER is susceptible to efflux by PA whereas IMI is not. Furthermore, REL has been shown to augment the activity of IMI against PA isolates, including OprD mutants.
This research will lead to an improved understanding of the efficacy and tolerability of Imipenem/relebactam in treating infections caused by multiple-drug resistant (MDR) Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Please join us in congratulating Palash!