Besifloxacin Ophthalmic Suspension: Emerging Evidence of its Therapeutic Value in Bacterial Conjunctivitis

Abstract

ObjectiveTo outline the pharmacodynamics, efficacy and safety of besifloxacin ophthalmic suspension 0.6% in the treatment of bacterial conjunctivitis.Quality of EvidenceMEDLINE database was searched to review recent pharmacodynamic and clinical studies evaluating besifloxacin and comparing besifloxacin to other topical antibiotics for ophthalmic use. Findings were limited to full-text articles from clinical journals in the English language.Main MessageBacterial resistance is a common source for treatment failure in bacterial conjunctivis. Besifloxacin, a novel fourth generation synthetic fluoroquinolone is likely to show lower resistance rates due to its mechanism of action and its short-term use for ocular infections only (decreased systemic exposure). Besifloxacin displays improved pharmacodynamic properties compared to other commonly used fluoroquinolones and has shown to be efficacious and safe in clinical studies.ConclusionBesifloxacin ophthalmic suspension 0.6% provides safe and efficacious treatment for bacterial conjunctivitis. The factors leading to bacterial resistance are diminished, which allows besifloxacin to be a favorable treatment option.