Can a gentler antibiotic beat the standard for a tough lung infection?

NCT ID NCT03236987

Disease control Sponsor: Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Amiens Source: ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026

Summary

This study compares two antibiotics, clarithromycin and azithromycin, for treating MAC lung infections, a serious bacterial lung disease. About 424 adults with MAC infection will receive one of the two drugs alongside standard treatments. The goal is to see if azithromycin works just as well but causes fewer side effects like liver problems or stomach upset.

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Study facts

What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.

Phase

Phase 3

Large-scale testing in a bigger group. Usually the last step before a treatment can be approved.

Participants

About 424 people

The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.

Started

Feb 2018

Expected to finish

Feb 2029

An estimate. End dates often move.

Lead sponsor

Other sponsor

The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.

Who can take part

This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.

Ages

18 years and older

Sex

Anyone

Healthy volunteers

Not accepted

This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.

Show the full entry requirements

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: * patients 18 years of age or older * having a positive Mycobacterium avium complex sample showing the ATS / IDSA infection criteria and requiring treatment * ATS / IDSA infection criteria combine clinico-radiological criteria, associated with microbiological criteria * the exclusion of any other diagnosis on the thoracic CT, fibroscopy and bacteriological samples Exclusion Criteria: * Known hypersensitivity to one of the study molecules (rifampicin, ethambutol, azithromycin, clarithromycin) * Relapse of an MAC infection, * Strain resistant to macrolides, based on genotyping susceptibility testing (genotyping susceptibility testing must be done before inclusion) * Treatment that interacts with cytochrome p450 that can not be replaced by another therapeutic, * HIV serology 1 and 2, * Renal insufficiency with creatinine clearance less than 30 ml / min, * Pregnancy and breast feeding, * Contra-indication to one of the antibiotics, * Impossibility to follow the protocol due in particular to drug addiction according to the investigator, * Limited life expectancy, less than 6 months, * Patient already participating in a clinical trial on a medical treatment or a therapeutic strategy for non-tuberculous mycobacteria.

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Conditions

The condition(s) this trial relates to.

Mycobacterium avium complex disease pneumonia pulmonary non-tuberculous mycobacterial infection

As listed by the trial registrant

The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.

Lung infection Mac lung disease

How to take part

Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.

The places running it

3 sites. The list below names each one and where it is.
The official record

ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.

Open the record ↗
A doctor treating you

A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.

Can a gentler antibiotic beat the standard for a tough lung infection?

What the study statuses mean