Investigator-Driven Randomised Controlled Trial of Cefiderocol versus Standard Therapy for Healthcare-Associated and Hospital-Acquired Gram-negative Bloodstream Infection: Study protocol (the GAME CHANGER trial): study protocol for an open-label, randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Increasing rates of antibiotic resistance in Gram-negative organisms due to the presence of extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL), hyperproduction of AmpC enzymes, carbapenemases and other mechanisms of resistance are identified in common hospital- and healthcare-associated pathogens including Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii. Cefiderocol is a novel siderophore cephalosporin antibiotic with a catechol moiety on the 3-position side chain. Cefiderocol has been shown to be potent in vitro against a broad range of Gram-negative organisms, including carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) and multi-drug-resistant (MDR) P. aeruginosa and A. baumannii. Recent clinical data has shown cefiderocol to be effective in the setting of complicated urinary tract infections and nosocomial pneumonia, but it has not yet been studied as treatment of bloodstream infection.

METHODS: This study will use a multicentre, open-label non-inferiority trial design comparing cefiderocol and standard of care antibiotics. Eligible participants will be adult inpatients who are diagnosed with a bloodstream infection with a Gram-negative organism on the basis of a positive blood culture result where the acquisition meets the definition for healthcare-associated or hospital-acquired. It will compare cefiderocol with the current standard of care (SOC) antibiotic regimen according to the patient's treating clinician. Eligible participants will be randomised 1:1 to cefiderocol or SOC and receive 5-14 days of antibiotic therapy. Trial recruitment will occur in at least 20 sites in ten countries (Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey and Greece). The sample size has been derived from an estimated 14 day, all-cause mortality rate of 10% in the control group, and a non-inferiority margin of 10% difference in the two groups. A minimum of 284 patients are required in total to achieve 80% power with a two-sided alpha level of 0.05. Data describing demographic information, risk factors, concomitant antibiotics, illness scores, microbiology, multidrug-resistant organism screening, discharge and mortality will be collected.

DISCUSSION: With increasing antimicrobial resistance, there is a need for the development of new antibiotics with broad activity against Gram-negative pathogens such as cefiderocol. By selecting a population at risk for multi-drug-resistant pathogens and commencing study treatment early in the clinical illness (within 48 h of index blood culture) the trial hopes to provide guidance to clinicians of the efficacy of this novel agent.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: The GAME CHANGER trial is registered under the US National Institute of Health ClinicalTrials.gov register, reference number NCT03869437 . Registered on March 11, 2019.