Antimicrobial snapshot: Cefiderocol

Cefiderocol is the first approved siderophore cephalosporin with a broad spectrum of activity against aerobic Gram-negative bacteria, including multidrug-resistant, carbapenem-resistant and difficult-to-treat resistant strains of Enterobacterales and non-fermenting pathogens. It is approved in the USA for the treatment of complicated urinary tract infection and nosocomial pneumonia. FDA cleared manual methods for cefiderocol susceptibility testing include disk diffusion with standard Mueller–Hinton agar and broth microdilution using iron-depleted cation-adjusted Mueller–Hinton broth. Cefiderocol susceptibility rates typically are >90% by breakpoints set by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute and resistance development involves multiple mechanisms. This snapshot manuscript provides further insights into cefiderocol.