A new single-dose drug for the treatment of gonorrhea, expected to receive approval in the coming days, could become a key tool in combating the infection amid growing antibiotic resistance.

Gonorrhea, a common sexually transmitted infection (STI) that is often asymptomatic, has become increasingly difficult to treat as bacteria develop resistance to existing antibiotics, Euronews reports. If left untreated, it can lead to serious complications such as pelvic inflammatory disease or infertility.

Zoliflodacin—the first new antibiotic in decades developed exclusively to treat this infection—is designed to combat drug-resistant superbugs and is expected to receive marketing authorization in the United States.

Recently, researchers conducted a clinical trial involving more than 900 people from the United States, South Africa, Thailand, Belgium, and the Netherlands—the largest study to date of participants infected with Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

The trial results, published in the medical journal The Lancet, showed that the new treatment—a single pill—cured more than 90 percent of genital infections.

Researchers said the new drug was well tolerated by participants, with side effects similar to those seen with current treatments, and no serious safety concerns were identified.

“Gonorrhea continues to be a major global public health challenge, and the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance only heightens the need for new treatment options,” said Edward Hook, professor of medicine at the University of Alabama and lead author of the study.

He added that the lack of new treatments for gonorrhea over the past decades, combined with rising antibiotic resistance, has created significant challenges in managing this STI.

In 2023, around 100,000 confirmed cases of gonorrhea were recorded in the European Union—equivalent to 25 cases per 100,000 people—representing a 31 percent increase compared with the previous year.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to approve zoliflodacin in the coming days.