Update on daptomycin: the first approved lipopeptide antibiotic.

Daptomycin, the first approved member of the lipopeptide antibiotic class, exhibits potent bactericidal in vitro activity against most Gram-positive bacteria, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus species and penicillin-resistant Streptococcus species. Since its approval in 2003 for the treatment of complicated skin and skin structure infections, several review articles have summarised daptomycin's mechanism of action, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, clinical trials and safety profiles. The objective of this paper is to summarise past information with a focus on the latest susceptibility data of isolates collected worldwide, new pharmacodynamic studies, clinical data regarding bacteraemia/endocarditis and postmarketing surveillance in the treatment of skin and skin-structure infections.