This is a randomized (study drug assigned by chance), double-blind (neither physician nor patient knows the name of the assigned study drugs), double-dummy (all patients are given both a placebo [salt solution] and study drug in alternating periods of time during the study), active comparator-controlled (compare the test treatment to standard-of-care therapy), multinational, multicenter study to evaluate the safety of the study drugs (doripenem and meropenem) administered by intravenous (iv) infusion (slow injection of drug solution into the vein over a period of time) in children aged 3 months to less than 18 years who are hospitalized with complicated intra abdominal infections (cIAI). Complicated intra abdominal infections include but are not limited to appendicitis with rupture and/or abscess (local collection of pus), acute (severe or intense) gastric, duodenal (beginning section of the small intestine), or gall bladder perforation (a hole in the wall of the stomach, small intestine, or gallbladder), and secondary peritonitis. The study will include 3 periods: a pretreatment (screening) period that will occur within 2 days prior to randomization (assignment of study drug), a treatment period of 5 to 14 days where patients will receive iv study drug treatment only or IV study therapy and a switch to oral antibiotic therapy, and a posttreatment period consisting of 2 study visits. The max duration of study drug therapy is 14 days. The total duration of the study is approximately 7 to 8 weeks. Safety and tolerability will be evaluated by examining the incidence, severity, and type of adverse events, changes in clinical laboratory tests, vital signs measurements, and findings from physical examinations observed during treatment and at each posttreatment visit. An independent monitoring committee (IDMC) will be established for this study to ensure that the safety of patients is not compromised. The IDMC will consist of individuals who are not associated with the conduct of the study, and will include but will not be limited to individuals with expertise relevant to the care of pediatric patients, and including at least one infectious disease physician and at least one statistician. Patients will receive IV Doripenem (20 mg/kg to 500 mg/dose) and meropenem placebo OR meropenem (20 mg/kg to 1 gram/dose) and doripenem placebo once every 8 hours for up to 14 days. If the patient's cIAI symptoms improve after 72 hours of treatment with iv study drug, the investigator may choose to stop iv study drug and switch the patient to an orally administered antibiotic (amoxicillin/clavulanate postassium) to complete the 5- to 14 day course of antibiotic therapy.
The purpose of the study is to evaluate the safety and tolerability of doripenem compared with meropenem in children hospitalized with complicated intra-abdominal infections.