Antimicrobial Activity of High-Proportion Cefepime-Tazobactam (WCK 4282) against a Large Number of Gram-Negative Isolates Collected Worldwide in 2014.

Cefepime-tazobactam (WCK 4282) is currently under clinical development for use at a dosage of 2 g/2 g every 8 h. A total of 7,981 isolates were collected from 146 medical centers (39 countries) in 2014 as a part of the SENTRY Antimicrobial Surveillance Program, and their susceptibilities to cefepime-tazobactam (with tazobactam at fixed concentrations of 4 and 8 μg/ml) were tested by a reference broth microdilution method. Isolates were mainly from patients with pneumonia (29.5%) and bloodstream infections (26.9%). Cefepime-tazobactam (with tazobactam at a fixed concentration of 8 μg/ml) and cefepime inhibited 96.9 and 87.9% of strains at ≤8 μg/ml. The activity of cefepime-tazobactam against strains was comparable to that of meropenem (96.7% of isolates were susceptible) and greater than that of piperacillin-tazobactam (87.7% susceptible). All species from the United States except had >99.0% of isolates inhibited by cefepime-tazobactam at ≤8/8 μg/ml. The prevalence of the extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-screening-positive phenotype was the highest among isolates in China (66.3%) and among isolates (58.0%) in Latin America. Cefepime-tazobactam at ≤8/8 μg/ml inhibited 98.7 and 71.3% of ESBL-screening-positive phenotype strains and strains, respectively. Meropenem showed limited activity against ESBL-screening-positive phenotype strains (69.6% susceptible). Cefepime-tazobactam was active against spp. (MIC and MIC, 0.06 and 0.5 μg/ml, respectively), including ceftazidime-nonsusceptible isolates (96.1% of isolates were inhibited by cefepime-tazobactam at ≤8/8 μg/ml). The activity of cefepime-tazobactam against (82.4 and 91.6% of isolates were inhibited by cefepime-tazobactam at ≤8/8 and ≤16/8 μg/ml, respectively) was comparable to that of meropenem and piperacillin-tazobactam (79.2% susceptible). In summary, cefepime-tazobactam was highly active against and strains, including ESBL-screening-positive phenotype strains and ceftazidime-nonsusceptible spp. These results support the further clinical development of the cefepime-tazobactam combination.