Fleroxacin is a new oral and intravenous trifluoroquinolone with a half-life of 10-12 h. This new quinolone has excellent bioavailability, good tissue penetration, low protein binding and a low rate of metabolism. Serum concentrations following oral and intravenous administration are identical, allowing the clinician to change comfortably from intravenous to oral therapy. Fleroxacin exhibits a broad spectrum of antibacterial activity against aerobic Gram-negative bacteria, and also against staphylococci. Comparative clinical studies have demonstrated efficacy and safety of fleroxacin as treatment for infections of the urinary and respiratory tract, sexually transmitted diseases, infections of the skin and soft tissue and gastrointestinal tract, in a large number of adult patients of various ages. These data suggest that fleroxacin will be an effective once-daily agent in the treatment of a variety of infections caused by bacteria susceptible to this new long-acting quinolone.
