Biotech, Life Sciences, Antibiotics

FDA Declines Approval of Targanta Antibiotic

Ryan McBride 12/9/08

Targanta Therapeutics (NASDAQ:TARG), a Cambridge, MA-based developer of antibiotics, says that the FDA has declined to approve the company’s application for approval of antibiotic oritavancin as a treatment for complicated skin and skin structure infections, telling the biotech firm that it needs to conduct additional clinical studies to demonstrate safety and effectiveness of the drug. The FDA response to the application comes after an agency panel narrowly decided not to recommend approval of oritavancin last month.

Ryan McBride is Xconomy's correspondent. You can reach him at rmcbride@xconomy.com, or follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Ryan_McBride.