The antibacterial effects (ABE) of tomopenem (formerly RO4908463/CS-023) against seven Staphylococcus aureus strains (methicillin-resistant S. aureus [MRSA] strain tomopenem MICs, 0.5 to 16 mg/liter; methicillinsensitive S. aureus [MSSA] strain tomopenem MIC, 0.06 mg/liter) were studied in an in vitro pharmacokinetic model. Initially, two human doses were simulated, 750 mg every 8 hours (8hly) and 1,500 mg 8hly intravenously, using S. aureus at a standard inoculum of 10 6 CFU/ml. There was a rapid clearance of bacteria from the model by 12 h after drug exposure with most strains. Clearance was not related to the tomopenem MIC. The ABE of these two tomopenem dose regimens were also tested at a high inoculum, 10 8 CFU/ml; in all simulations, there was a >4-log drop in viable count at 24 h. Strains were not cleared from the model at 10 8 CFU/ml, in contrast to what was seen for the standard inoculum. When the ABE of tomopenem at 750 mg 8hly was compared to those of vancomycin, tomopenem was seen to have a superior effect, as measured by the area under the bacterial kill curve at 24 h (AUBKC 24 ) and 48 h (P < 0.05). Dose ranging studies were performed to provide time-above-MIC (T>MIC) drug exposures of 0 to 100% (8 to 10 doses per strain) with five MRSA/MSSA strains. The T>MIC for a 24-h bacteriostatic effect was 8% ؎ 5% (range, 1.3% to 15.4%); the T>MIC for a 4-log drop in viable count was 32% ؎ 18% (range, 12.8% to 36.2%). The T>MIC for a 90% maximum response using AUBKC 24 as ABE was 24.9% ؎ 15.7%. Inoculum had little impact on T>MIC exposures for ABE. There was emergence of resistance to tomopenem in the dose ranging studies, with increased growth of subpopulations on plates containing tomopenem at 2؋ and 4؋ the MIC compared to what was seen for preexposure population analysis at T>MICs of <20%. The pharmacodynamics of tomopenem against S. aureus is similar to those of other members of the carbapenem class, with the exception that MRSA is included. These data indicate that tomopenem will have clinically useful activity against MRSA at T>MICs achievable in humans.Tomopenem (formerly RO4908463/CS-023) is an injectable 2-substituted 1--methyl carbapenem. It has a guanidine-pyrrolidine side chain and binds with high affinity to penicillin binding protein 1 (PBP1), PBP2, and PBP4 from Staphylococcus aureus. The MIC 50 and MIC 90 against methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) are 0.12 and 0.12 to 0.25 mg/liter (17,19,32). For methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), the MIC 50 and MIC 90 are 2 and 4 to 16 mg/liter (17,19,32). This contrasts to imipenem and meropenem, which have MRSA MIC 90 values of 32 and 16 to 32 mg/liter. Tomopenem retains in vitro potency against extended-spectrum -lactamase-producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella spp. as well as Pseudomonas aeruginosa (8,17,19,33).The pharmacokinetics studies with male healthy volunteers indicate relatively typical carbapenem pharmacokinetics except for a prolonged serum half-life of about 2 h, which is related to a lack of renal tubular secretion (29). Tomop...