The bactericidal activities of HMR 3004, HMR 3647 and erythromycin against gram-positive bacilli and development of resistance.

The bactericidal activities of two new ketolides, HMR 3004 and HMR 3647, and the potential to develop resistance to these two antibiotics were studied in Gram-positive bacilli. As judged by time-kill kinetics both ketolides were mostly bacteriostatic, being bactericidal against only highly susceptible isolates of Corynebacterium striatum (two isolates) and Corynebacterium minutissimum (one isolate). Spontaneous resistant mutants were detected in seven of 30 strains tested, mainly in Rhodococcus equi, C. minutissimum and C. striatum, with a very low frequency of mutation (10(-12)-10(-15)).