Micafungin: a review of its use in the prophylaxis and treatment of invasive Candida infections.

Intravenous micafungin (Mycamine®; Fungard®), an echinocandin, is approved in the EU for the treatment of adult (aged ≥ 16 years) and paediatric patients with invasive candidiasis and for the treatment of adult patients with oesophageal candidiasis. It is also approved in the EU as prophylactic treatment to prevent Candida infections in adult and paediatric patients undergoing haematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) or patients who are expected to have neutropenia for ≥ 10 days. This article reviews the therapeutic use of micafungin for the treatment and prophylaxis of Candida infections in adult and paediatric patients, focusing on approved indications in Europe, and briefly discusses the pharmacology of the drug. Micafungin shows very good in vitro activity against clinically relevant isolates of Candida spp., with a low propensity to be associated with the emergence of resistant isolates. The drug has a convenient once-daily dosage regimen and is associated with relatively few drug-drug interactions. In large, multinational trials in adult and/or paediatric patients with invasive candidiasis, micafungin was noninferior to intravenous caspofungin or liposomal amphotericin B. In similarly designed trials in adult patients with oesophageal candidiasis, treatment with micafungin was noninferior to that with intravenous fluconazole or caspofungin. As prophylactic treatment in adult and paediatric patients who had undergone HSCT, micafungin was superior to fluconazole therapy and noninferior to oral itraconazole in large, multicentre trials. Micafungin was generally well tolerated by participants in these clinical trials, given the severe morbidity of the underlying conditions of patients, with a similar tolerability profile to caspofungin and, in general, to fluconazole. It was better tolerated than liposomal amphotericin B or oral itraconazole. Thus, micafungin is a valuable first-line or alternative option to other antifungal agents for the management of candidaemia and invasive candidiasis in adult and paediatric patients, including neonates, and as prophylaxis against fungal infections in patients undergoing HSCT.