IN-VITRO ACTIVITY OF BIAPENEM AGAINST CLINICAL ISOLATES OF GRAM-POSITIVE AND GRAM-NEGATIVE BACTERIA

The in vitro activity of biapenem, a new carbapenem previously designa ted 1,627, was compared with those of imipenem and several other antim icrobial agents against 771 clinical bacterial isolates. Against gram- positive organisms, biapenem was found to be approximately as active a s imipenem, inhibiting 90% of isolates of most species at concentratio ns within one dilution of the MIC of imipenem for 90% of the isolates. Against gram-negative organisms and Bacteroides fragilis, biapenem wa s at least as active as and often more active than imipenem, with MICs for 90% of the isolates two- to eightfold lower than those of imipene m.