The US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) has placed its first order for cefiderocol, a reserve antibiotic used for patients with potentially life-threatening bacterial infections, from its manufacturer, Shionogi, to stockpile in case of emergency.1 The purchase was part of Project Bioshield, a program designed in the early 2000s to protect the nation from biosafety threats. The antibiotic, sold under the trade name Fetroji, kills priority multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial pathogens that cause complicated urinary tract infections (including pyelonephritis) and hospital-acquired and ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia (HABP/VABP).
Why It Matters
• Complicated urinary tract infections are one of the most common causes of blood infections (sepsis) in hospitalized patients. HABP and VABP are severe, life-threatening lung infections.2
• BARDA’s Project Bioshield, launched following the 2001 anthrax attacks to protect the US from chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats, is now being used to stockpile last-resort antibiotics to counter antimicrobial resistance. 3
• The move is part of a $119 million contract to support Shionogi’s increased manufacturing of cefiderocol, issued in spring 2026.
What’s Next
The BARDA-Shionogi contract includes additional projects to establish a US manufacturing site for cefiderocol, test the drug in children with HABP or VABP, and explore using cefiderocol to treat infections caused by bacteria that cause bubonic plague and melioidosis and could be used as bioweapons.4
