FDA Approves J&J’s Levaquin For Treating Patients With Plague

The Food and Drug Administration April 27 approved Levaquin (levofloxacin) to treat patients with plague, a rare and potentially deadly bacterial infection.

The agency said it also approved the drug to reduce the risk of getting plague after exposure to Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that causes the disease. Levaquin is manufactured by Raritan, N.J.-based Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., a part of Johnson & Johnson.

Plague is extremely rare in most parts of the world, including the United States, with 1,000 or 2,000 cases worldwide each year, FDA said. The three most common forms of plague are bubonic plague (infection of ...