A Combination Therapy With Ceftazidime and Fosfomycin Will be Compared to Ceftazidime Alone in Hospitalized Adult Patients With Suspected Severe Gram-negative Bacterial Infections
Ceftazidime Plus Fosfomycin Versus Ceftazidime Alone for Severe Gram-negative Infections: a Triple-blind, Placebo-controlled Point-of-care Randomized Clinical Trial
Angela HUTTNER
100 participants
Aug 25, 2025
INTERVENTIONAL
Conditions
Summary
The goal of this clinical trial is to : 1. Test whether the combination of CAZ±AVI and FOS leads to superior clinical outcomes in patients with severe suspected Gram-negative bacterial infection, as demonstrated by a shorter time to normalization of quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (qSOFA) parameters and reduction in C-reactive protein (CRP) compared to standard of care (CAZ±AVI alone) 2. to further characterize the safety profile of this combination therapy In the presence of such an infection, standard treatment is to start intravenous antibiotic therapy. Ceftazidime (Fortam®), or ceftazidime-avibactam (Zavicefta®), is a standard antibiotic commonly used for this purpose (for very resistant bacteria, the compound avibactam is included to protect ceftazidime from being broken down by bacteria). Researchers will compare ceftazidime (or ceftazdime-avibactam) plus fosfomycin versus ceftazidime alone with placebo (i.e. a look-alike substance given with no drug) to examine whether the addition of another intravenous antibiotic, fosfomycin, would lead to faster recovery from severe infection and evaluate the tolerability of this combination. Participants will: * Be randomly assigned to either the intervention group or the control group. * The intervention group will receive ceftazidime (with avibactam if multidrug resistant bacteria are suspected, per routine practice) and intravenous fosfomycin, and the control group will receive ceftazidime (with avibactam if multidrug resistant bacteria are suspected) and placebo. * Either treatment will be given for 3 days, three times daily (or less frequently, depending on renal function). * Provide a few extra blood samples (for CRP measurement, a protein marker of inflammation) during the first few days of the study. * Be contacted in the hospital or by phone if discharged on day 28 to be asked a few questions.
Eligibility
Inclusion Criteria3
- Adult (≥18 years)
- Hospitalized with suspected severe Gram-negative bacterial infection
- Signed informed consent from the patient (or oral consent from a patient with capacity but with physical inability to sign, with signed witness testimony from a person independent of the study team) of from the legal representative if the patient lacks capacity to provide informed consent
Exclusion Criteria3
- Pregnancy or lactation
- Known contra-indication to CAZ±AVI or FOS
- Gram-negative directed antibiotic treatment begun >24 hours before inclusion
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Interventions
The intervention will last 72h (±6h). Ceftazidime will be administered intravenously in 5% glucose serum (per hospital standard), either intermittently (divided into three doses daily) or as continuous infusion; doses will be adapted to renal function. The decision to administer CAZ by continuous infusion and to add AVI will be left to the attending physician. CAZ±AVI will be adjusted for renal insufficiency per internal guidelines of dosing and international recommendations. The use of CAZ with its paired beta-lactamase inhibitor avibactam, i.e., the use of ceftazidime-avibactam (Zavicefta®) instead of CAZ will occur in case of suspicion of infection by either extended-spectrum-beta-lactamase-producing Enterobacterales (ESBL-E), cephalosporinase-carrying Enterobacterales (ampC-E) or carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE), as determined by treating physician and/or the infectious diseases consultant.
Participants randomized to the control arm will receive placebo infusion. Placebo will be 5% glucose serum and will be administered IV with the same frequency as FOS would be for the participant's renal function.
Locations(1)
View Full Details on ClinicalTrials.gov
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NCT07063095