Drotrecogin alfa: new preparation. For some cases of severe sepsis?

(1) Severe sepsis is fatal in 30-50% of cases, despite antibiotic therapy and intensive care. (2) The first specific treatment to be marketed in France was HA-IA monoclonal antibodies, in 1991. However, marketing approval was granted precipitously, on the basis of a single, controversial comparative trial, and the product was withdrawn after a second trial gave negative results. (3) Marketing authorization for drotrecogin alfa (recombinant activated protein C) was granted in 2002 for this indication. (4) The product was approved after a single comparative double-blind placebo-controlled trial in 1 690 patients. The protocol was modified during the trial, to exclude patients at high risk of death from causes unrelated to sepsis. The manufacturing process was also changed, making it difficult to interpret the results of this trial. (5) The trial found that drotrecogin alfa reduced mortality (by 6% in absolute values: 25% versus 31%), but also increased the risk of severe haemorrhage, the main adverse effect (3.5% versus 2%). (6) Retrospective subgroup analyses identified patients most likely to benefit from drotrecogin alfa, and also patients who would be needlessly exposed to an additional risk. (7) Drotrecogin alfa is a very expensive drug. (8) In practice, this clinical trial should be considered preliminary. Other, strictly designed and conducted trials are therefore required.