Activity of Oral Tebipenem-Avibactam in a Mouse Model of Mycobacterium abscessus Lung Infection.

The combination of the ß-lactam tebipenem and the ß-lactamase inhibitor avibactam shows potent bactericidal activity against Mycobacterium abscessus in vitro. Here, we report that the combination of the respective oral prodrugs tebipenem-pivoxil and avibactam ARX-1796 showed efficacy in a mouse model of M. abscessus lung infection. The results suggest that tebipenem-avibactam presents an attractive oral drug candidate pair for the treatment of M. abscessus pulmonary disease and could inform the design of clinical trials.