In vitro antibacterial activity of men 10700, a new penem antibiotic

We report here the antibacterial activity of the new penem antibiotic Men 1 0700 against a total of 740 gram-positive and gram-negative clinical isolat es, in comparison to imipenem, meropenem, cefotaxime, ceftriaxone, ciproflo xacin and gentamicin. Men 10700 has shown a wide spectrum of antibacterial activity, with a potent activity both against gram-positive species (with t he exception of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococ cus epidermidis) as indicated by minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC90) v alues less than or equal to 0.5 mg/l, and gram-negative species, with MIC90 values generally less than or equal to 2 mg/l. Men 10700 was the most pote nt antibiotic against methicillin-susceptible S. aureus and S. epidermidis, while the overall spectrum of activity resembled that of imipenem; meropen em was more active against most gram-negative species. In comparison with t hird-generation cephalosporins, Men 10700 demonstrated superior activity ag ainst methicillin-susceptible S. aureus and S. epidermidis and some gram-ne gative species such as Morganella morganii, Serratia spp. and Enterobacter cloacae; moreover, in contrast to third-generation cephalosporins, Men 1070 0 showed moderate activity against Enterococcus spp. The activity of Men 10 700 against penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae (10 strains) and some gram-negative strains selected for their resistance to cefotaxime (20 strains) was particularly interesting. Copyright (C) 1999 S. Karger AG. Bas el.