L. Sorbera, M. D. Fresno, R. Castañer
2002
Citations
0
Influential Citations
8
Citations
Journal
Drugs of The Future
Abstract
The penems are a class of β-lactam antibiotics which possess potent, broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and are extremely stable to hydrolysis by β-lactamases. However, the currently available 0-lactams are carbapenem antibiotics, which can only be formulated for parenteral administration, and therefore the search for potent, orally active β-lactams is ongoing. A novel β-lactam antimicrobial - the penem faropenem - has been developed and shown to have excellent activity against a wide range of bacteria, including extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing strains. The prodrug, faropenem daloxate, is hydrolyzed in plasma to faropenem and was selected for clinical development in the treatment of community-acquired respiratory tract infections. This article discusses the synthesis, pharmacological actions and pharmacokinetics of this new agent.