science

Telavancin

Telavancin is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Telavancin rather than just read about it. In short: Telavancin (trade name Vibativ by Cumberland Pharmaceuticals) is a bactericidal lipoglycopeptide for use in MRSA or other Gram-positive infections. Telavancin is a semi-synthetic derivative of vancomycin.

Key takeaways

Telavancin belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Telavancin to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Telavancin from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Telavancin (trade name Vibativ by Cumberland Pharmaceuticals) is a bactericidal lipoglycopeptide for use in MRSA or other Gram-positive infections. Telavancin is a semi-synthetic derivative of vancomycin. The FDA approved the drug in September 2009 for complicated skin and skin structure infections (cSSSI), and in June 2013 for hospital-acquired and ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia caused by Staphylococcus aureus.

History On 19 October 2007, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an approvable letter for telavancin. Its developer, Theravance, submitted a complete response to the letter, and the FDA has assigned a Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) target date of 21 July 2008. On 19 November 2008, an FDA antiinfective drug advisory committee concluded that they would recommend telavancin be approved by the FDA. The FDA approved the drug on 11 September 2009 for complicated skin and skin structure infections (cSSSI). Theravance has also submitted telavancin to the FDA in a second indication, nosocomial pneumonia, sometimes referred to as hospital-acquired pneumonia, or HAP. On 30 November 2012, an FDA advisory panel endorsed approval of a once-daily formulation of telavancin for nosocomial pneumonia when other alternatives are not suitable. However, telavancin did not win the advisory committee's recommendation as first-line therapy for this indication. The committee indicated that the trial data did not prove "substantial evidence" of telavancin's safety and efficacy in hospital-acquired pneumonia, including ventilator-associated pneumonia caused by Gram-positive organisms Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pneumoniae. On 21 June 2013 FDA gave approval for telavancin to treat patients with hospital-acquired pneumonia, but indicated it should be used only when alternative treatments are not suitable. FDA staff had indicated telavancin has a "substantially higher risk for death" for patients with kidney problems or diabetes compared to vancomycin. On March 11 2013, Clinigen Group plc and Theravance, Inc. announced that they have entered into an exclusive commercialization agreement in the European Union (EU) and certain other countries located in Europe for VIBATIV® (telavancin) for the treatment of nosocomial pneumonia (hospital-acquired), including ventilator-associated pneumonia, known or suspected to be caused by methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) when other alternatives are not suitable.

Mechanism of action Like vancomycin, telavancin inhibits bacterial cell wall synthesis by binding to the D-Ala-D-Ala terminus of the peptidoglycan in the growing cell wall (see Pharmacology and chemistry of vancomycin). In addition, it disrupts bacterial membranes by depolarization.

Adverse effects Common but harmless adverse effects include nausea, vomiting, constipation, and headache. Telavancin has a higher rate of kidney failure than vancomycin in two clinical trials. It showed teratogenic effects in animal studies.

Interactions Telavancin inhibits the liver enzymes CYP3A4 and CYP3A5. No data regarding the clinical relevance are available.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Telavancin

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Telavancin claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Telavancin before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Telavancin ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Telavancin

In research: Telavancin appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Telavancin in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Telavancin is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Antibiotics, Astellas Pharma, Chlorine-containing natural products, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Telavancin outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Telavancin in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Telavancin means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Telavancin out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Telavancin in simple terms?

Why does Telavancin matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Telavancin?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Telavancin.