Saturday November 4, 2006
Posaconazole (Noxafil) - new big gun anti-fungal !!


6 weeks ago FDA approved new anti-fungal for treatment of life-threatening invasive Aspergillus and Candida infections resistant to currently available antifungal treatments, paricularly in immunosuppressed patients with organ transplants and chemotherapy.

Noxafil is found to be very effective in patients:

• with febrile neutropenia or invasive fungal infections refractory to standard antifungal therapy.
• with zygomycosis, a fatal fungal infection against which most pharmacotherapies have little activity.
• with better clinical outcomes in patients with fungal infections that involve the central nervous system.
• tends to work in patients with mycetoma or chromoblastomycosis, which are chronic fungal infections of the skin and soft tissues that do not respond well to current treatments.
  

Usual dose is 200mg 4 times a day (or 400 mg twice a day) with a meal. Major side effect include possible hepatotoxicity and prolong QT interval.