By Kamal Choudhury

Dec 12 (Reuters) – The U.S. health regulator on Friday approved Innoviva’s oral antibiotic to treat gonorrhea, a common sexually transmitted infection, offering patients an ‍alternative to an injectable drug that was the only recommended treatment until now.

The Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the drug, branded as Nuzolvence, addresses a growing public health crisis as gonorrhea has developed resistance to nearly all available antibiotics.

For ‌now, Roche’s decades-old injection ceftriaxone remains the ‌sole treatment recommended by the CDC.

Gonorrhea causes about 82 million new infections globally each year and can lead to serious complications, including infertility, if left untreated, according to the WHO.

Nuzolvence, developed by Innoviva Specialty Th

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