Novelties in the Field of Anti‐Infective Compounds in 1999

In 1999 the number of new compounds reported in the anti-infective field decreased significantly in comparison with previous years, especially for antifungals.The reported new compounds are mainly directed against Staphylococcus aureus isolates resistant to methicillin.Few derivatives were reported in the field of anti-infectives for gram-negative bacteria.At the moment, we are in a period of discovery as we await novel compounds that could issue from new engineering.Despite strong advances, the process of drug discovery is still an arduous task.The main concerns remain gram-positive infections due to resistant strains.The spread of Streptococcus pneumoniae strains resistant to penicillin G and erythromycin A and of Streptococcus pyogenes resistant to erythromycin A are of concern around the world, with variable but increasing rates.Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) or coagulase-negative staphylococci are still clinical problems, and many compounds have been synthesized or extracted by fermentation from microorganisms and sponges.Compounds targeting MRSA are numerous and belong to many different families of antibacterial compounds, including cephalosporins, carbapenems, coumarinic derivatives, oxazolidinones, everninomycin, peptides, and cyclins.The novel drugs of 1999 were efflux pump inhibitors, which were new tools designed to overcome efflux mechanism of resistance by restoring in vitro and in vivo activities of fluoroquinolones, tetracycline, and azole antifungals.Two updates on novelties in the field of anti-infectives have been recently published [1,2].The aim of this review is to update the knowledge of new compounds that were presented in 1999. New Fluoroquinolones DerivativesMany communications and publications have been issued on investigational fluoroquinolones (table 1).Only 3 series of new fluoroquinolones have been published with minimal or extensive in vitro studies, from Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals