Cefprozil, a new cephalosporin: its use in various clinical trials

Cefprozil is a new oral cephalosporin with a broad spectrum of activity against a wide range of aerobic gram-positive and gram-negative organisms, as well as certain anaerobic bacteria. Cefprozil has demonstrated good stability in the presence of beta-lactamase-producing organisms, a common cause of bacterial resistance with many older beta-lactam antibiotics. The relatively long half-life of cefprozil and its sustained duration in tissue (as measured by skin blister fluid concentrations) support once- or twice-daily dosing. Cefprozil is well tolerated and has a low incidence of adverse events. A review of clinical studies that evaluated cefprozil for the treatment of otitis media, sinusitis, pharyngitis, tonsillitis, lower respiratory tract infections, skin and skin structure infections, and urinary tract infections is presented in this article. In multicenter clinical trials, cefprozil was found to be comparable or superior to frequently prescribed antibiotics, including other cephalosporins, in terms of its safety profile and its bacteriologic and clinical response rates.