In Vitro Activity of Meropenem-Vaborbactam against Clinical Isolates of KPC-Positive Enterobacteriaceae

Vaborbactam (formerly RPX7009) is a novel inhibitor of serine β-lactamases, including Ambler class A carbapenemases, such as KPCs. The current study evaluated the in vitro activity of the combination agent meropenem-vaborbactam against a global collection of 991 isolates of KPC-positive Enterobacteriaceae collected in 2014 and 2015 using the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) standard broth microdilution method. The MIC₉₀ of meropenem (when tested with a fixed concentration of 8 μg/ml of vaborbactam) for isolates of KPC-positive Enterobacteriaceae was 1 μg/ml, and MIC values ranged from ≤0.03 to >32 μg/ml; 99.0% (981/991) of isolates had meropenem-vaborbactam MICs of ≤4 μg/ml, the U.S. FDA-approved MIC breakpoint for susceptibility to meropenem-vaborbactam (Vabomere). Vaborbactam lowered the meropenem MIC₅₀ from 32 to 0.06 μg/ml and the MIC₉₀ from >32 to 1 μg/ml. There were no differences in the activity of meropenem-vaborbactam when the isolates were stratified by KPC variant type. We conclude that meropenem-vaborbactam demonstrates potent in vitro activity against a worldwide collection of clinical isolates of KPC-positive Enterobacteriaceae collected in 2014 and 2015.