1584 - In Vitro Activity of Imipenem/Relebactam against Gram-Negative Pathogens from Patients with Bloodstream Infections in the United States and Canada – SMART 2018

Background: Relebactam (REL) inhibits class A and C β-lactamases, including KPC, and was approved in the United States combined with imipenem (IMI) and cilastatin for complicated urinary tract and intraabdominal infections. We evaluated the activity of IMI/REL against non-Morganellaceae (NME) and P. aeruginosa collected as part of the global SMART surveillance program from patients with bloodstream infections (BSI) in the US and Canada.

Methods: In 2018, 24 US and 8 Canadian hospitals each collected up to 50 consecutive aerobic or facultative gram-negative pathogens from patients with BSI. MICs were determined using CLSI broth microdilution and interpreted with 2020 CLSI breakpoints. Multidrug-resistance (MDR) was defined as resistance to ≥3 of the following sentinel drugs: amikacin, aztreonam, cefepime, ceftazidime (NME only), ciprofloxacin, colistin, imipenem, and piperacillin/tazobactam.

Results: The 5 most common species among 1463 collected BSI isolates were E. coli (46.9%), K. pneumoniae (16.0%), P. aeruginosa (8.5%), P. mirabilis (4.8%), and E. cloacae (4.3%). Susceptibility to IMI/REL and comparators of selected species and subsets of resistant phenotypes is shown in the table.

IMI/REL was active against 99.8% of NME isolates; only meropenem, ceftazidime/avibactam, and amikacin showed comparable activity. Per 2020 CLSI guidelines, Enterobacterales and P. aeruginosa isolates are no longer considered susceptible to colistin. IMI/REL maintained activity against 89-100% of NME isolates that were nonsusceptible (NS) to β-lactams or MDR. Among P. aeruginosa, IMI/REL was active against 94.4% of isolates; a susceptibility rate only exceeded by amikacin. The addition of relebactam lowered the MIC₉₀ for P. aeruginosa from 16 µg/mL to 1 µg/mL. IMI/REL maintained activity against 40-77% of P. aeruginosa isolates NS to β-lactams or MDR; susceptibility rates only exceeded by amikacin.
Susceptibility to IMI/REL was similar in the US (99.8% of NME [n=846]; 93.8% of P. aeruginosa [n=96]) and Canada (99.7% of NME [n=339]; 96.4% of P. aeruginosa [n=28]).Table


Conclusion: In the US and Canada, IMI/REL could provide an important treatment option for patients with BSI caused by resistant gram-negative organisms.