Comparison of Sequential IV/PO Moxifloxacin With IV Piperacillin/Tazobactam Followed by PO Amoxicillin/Clavulanic Acid in Patients With a Complicated Skin and Skin Structure Infection
Comparison of Sequential IV/PO Moxifloxacin With IV Piperacillin/Tazobactam Followed by PO Amoxicillin/Clavulanic Acid in Patients With a Complicated Skin and Skin Structure Infection
Patients, who are considered suitable by their physicians to take part in this research, will
 have a physical examination (including an Electrocardiogram (ECG)), blood and urine samples
 taken, as well as a sample of the secretions or tissue around their infection site. In
 addition, the site of the infection will be photographed. The patients will be randomly
 assigned one of the treatments: intravenous (IV)/per oral (PO) moxifloxacin (drug under
 evaluation) or IV piperacillin/tazobactam followed by PO amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (i.e.,
 one of the reference treatments for this kind of infection). The maximum treatment duration
 will be 21 days, and the minimum will be 7 days. During the hospitalization, the patients
 will have a physical examination every day. On Day 3-5 during therapy as well as at the end
 of treatment, the patients will have repeated examinations. These tests and evaluations will
 be repeated 14 to 28 days after the end of treatment. During this visit, blood and urine
 samples will be taken only if judged necessary by the physicians.
Inclusion Criteria:

 -  Written informed consent

 -  Men or women of 18 years and above with a diagnosis of bacterial skin and skin
 structure infection that requires

 -  Hospitalization and

 -  Initial parenteral therapy for at least 48 hours and

 -  Meets at least one of the following criteria:

 -  Involvement of deep soft tissue (e.g. fascial, muscle layers)

 -  Requirement for a significant surgical intervention including surgical
 drainage, drainage procedure guided by imaging and/or debridement

 -  Association with a significant underlying disease that may complicate
 response to treatment. An underlying disease is considered significant if it
 includes any of the following conditions that are present at the time of
 presentation: cancer (except basal- or squamous-cell cancer of the skin),
 cardiac (i.e., congestive heart disease), diabetes mellitus, hepatic (i.e.,
 cirrhosis or another form of chronic liver disease), immunologic, renal
 disease, respiratory, transplantation or vascular disease

 -  Duration of infection < 21 days

 -  Diagnosis of one of the following skin and skin structure infections that requires
 hospitalization and initial parenteral antibiotic therapy for at least 48 hours:

 -  Major abscess(es) associated with extensive cellulitis, which requires antibiotic
 therapy in addition to surgical incision and drainage

 -  Diabetic foot infection of mild to severe intensity (perfusion, extent/size,
 depth/tissue loss, infection and sensation (PEDIS) grade 2-4) in the presence or
 absence of osteomyelitis. Subjects with osteomyelitis may only be enrolled if the
 infected bone is completely removed by surgery and if residual infection
 requiring antibiotics is still present following surgery

 -  Wound infection including: post surgical (surgical incision), post-traumatic,
 human bite/clenched fist and animal bite wound and wound associated with
 injection drug abuse:

 -  Infections must have occurred within 30 days of a surgical procedure,
 trauma, animal bite, or human bite, and involve the skin and skin structures
 at the site of the incision, trauma, or bite

 -  In addition, post-surgical/trauma wound infections must meet the following
 criteria:

 -  Involvement of deep soft tissues (e.g. fascial and muscle layers) of
 the incision/trauma

 -  At least one of the following criteria:

 -  Purulent drainage from the deep incision/trauma

 -  Identification of an infecting organism from an aseptically
 obtained culture of fluid or tissue from incision/trauma

 -  At least one of the following signs and symptoms:

 -  Localized pain or tenderness

 -  Fever (see below) AND the incision (in case of post-surgical wound
 infections) is deliberately opened by a surgeon, unless the
 culture is negative

 -  Abscess or other evidence of infection involving the deep
 incision/trauma, found on direct examination, during
 reoperation/operation (in case of trauma), or by histologic or
 radiologic examination

 -  Diagnosis of a deep incisional/post-trauma Skin Structure Infections
 (SSI) by a surgeon or attending physician

 -  Bite wounds/clenched fist infections and wounds associated with
 injection drug abuse must meet the criteria defining a Complicated Skin
 and Skin Structure Infections (cSSSI)

 -  Infected ischemic ulcers with at least one of the following conditions:

 -  Peripheral vascular disease

 -  Conditions pre-disposing to pressure sores such as paraplegia, peripheral
 neuropathy

 -  Presence of at least 3 of the following signs or symptoms:

 -  Purulent drainage or discharge

 -  Erythema extending > 1 cm from the wound edge

 -  Fluctuance

 -  Pain or tenderness to palpation

 -  Swelling or induration

 -  Fever, defined as body temperature

 -  > 37.5°C (axillary)

 -  > 38°C (orally)

 -  > 38.5°C (tympanically) or

 -  > 39°C (rectally)

 -  OR

 -  Elevated total peripheral white blood cell (WBC) count >
 12,000/mm3 or

 -  >15 % immature neutrophils (bands) regardless of total peripheral
 WBC count

 -  C reactive protein (CRP) >20 mg/L

 -  Specimen obtained for culture from infected area by needle aspiration of obviously
 purulent material or by tissue biopsy or by curettage of the surface of ulcer within
 48 hours prior to the initiation of study drug therapy

 -  Duration of treatment of the skin/skin structure infection is anticipated to be at
 least 7 days.

 -  Surgical drainage or debridement of infected wounds or abscesses, if necessary, have
 to have been completed <= 48 hours after the initiation of study drug therapy

 Exclusion Criteria:

 -  Women, who are pregnant or lactating, or in whom pregnancy can not be excluded (Note:
 a urine pregnancy test has to be performed for all women of childbearing potential
 before randomization to the study drug)

 -  The following skin and skin structure infections:

 -  Necrotizing fasciitis including Fourniers gangrene, ecthyma gangrenosum,
 streptococcal necrotizing fasciitis and clostridial necrotizing fasciitis

 -  Burn wound infections

 -  Secondary infections of a chronic skin disease (e.g. atopic dermatitis)

 -  Infection of prosthetic materials (e.g. subcutaneous tissue infection related to
 a central venous catheter or permanent cardiac pacemaker battery pack). Subjects
 with removal of a prosthetic device involved in an infection should not be
 included

 -  Infections where a surgical procedure alone is definitive therapy

 -  Subjects with uncomplicated skin and skin structure infections including
 folliculitis and furunculosis, carbunculosis, simple abscesses and superficial
 cellulitis

 -  Known hypersensitivity to quinolones and/or any type of beta-lactam antibiotic drugs
 or any of the excipients

 -  Previous history of cholestatic jaundice/hepatic dysfunction associated with
 amoxicillin-clavulanic acid

 -  Severe, life threatening disease with a life expectancy of less than 2 months

 -  Immunosuppression including:

 -  Known neutropenia (neutrophil count < 1000/µL)

 -  Known lymphopenia with absolute CD4+ T cell count < 200/mm3

 -  Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-defining event and/or concomitant
 therapy with Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART)

 -  Chronic treatment (>/= 2 weeks) with known immunosuppressant therapy (including
 treatment with > 15 mg/day of systemic prednisone or equivalent)

 -  Any other congenital or acquired immune defect or immunosuppression

 -  Known severe hepatic insufficiency (Child Pugh C) or transaminases increase > 5 fold
 upper limit of normal (ULN)

 -  Known renal impairment with a baseline measured or calculated serum creatinine
 clearance < 40 mL/min

 -  Known prolongation of the QT interval or concomitant use of drugs reported to increase
 the QT interval (e.g. Class IA or Class III antiarrhythmics [eg., quinidine,
 procainamide, amiodarone, sotalol], neuroleptics [e.g. haloperidol], tricyclic
 antidepressive agents, certain antimicrobials [e.g. pentamidine, halofantrine],
 certain antihistaminics [e.g. terfenadine], and other [cisapride, vincamine IV,
 depridil, diphemanil])

 -  Uncorrected hypokalemia

 -  Clinically relevant bradycardia

 -  Clinically relevant heart failure with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction
 (i.e., below 40%)

 -  Previous history of symptomatic arrhythmias

 -  Previous history of tendon disease/disorder with quinolones

 -  Known or suspected concomitant bacterial infection requiring additional systemic
 antibacterial treatment, e.g. underlying septic arthritis

 -  Requiring therapy with probenecid

 -  Treatment with a systemic or topical antibacterial agent for > 24 hours in the
 previous 7 days preceding study entry unless the subject showed no response or had
 worsening of clinical signs and symptoms despite 3 or more days of prior therapy and a
 culture obtained at the time of subject enrollment showed persistence of a pathogen
 which is susceptible to the study drugs. The prior antimicrobial therapy must not have
 been a fluoroquinolone or a beta lactam/beta lactamase combination

 -  Infection known to be due to a Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA),
 Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Epidermidis (MRSE) or Vancomycin Resistant
 Enterococcus (VRE) as the single isolated pathogen

 -  Previous enrolment in this study

 -  Participation in any clinical investigational drug study within 4 weeks of screening

 -  Previous history of seizure disorders