Advanced Life pneumonia drug meets all goals in late-stage trial

Nov 15 (Reuters) - Advanced Life Sciences Holdings Inc ADLS.O said a second pivotal last-stage trial designed to assess the safety and effectiveness of pneumonia drug cethromycin met all its goals.

Cethromycin, which is an oral antibiotic treating mild-to-moderate community acquired pneumonia (CAP), cured 94 percent of patients, compared to Biaxin, a current standard of care treatment for CAP, which cured 93.8 percent of studied patients, the company said in a statement.

The company said cethromycin also demonstrated favorable safety results, with reported side effects similar to or less than those seen with Biaxin. (Reporting by Neetha Mahadevan in Bangalore; Editing by Pratish Narayanan)