Ticarcillin sodium (Aerugipen hydrate) is a semisynthetic antibiotic with a broad spectrum of bactericidal activity against many gram-positive and gram-negative aerobic and anaerobic bacteria.

MICs of Ticarcillin (64 mg/mL) for 90% of all beta-lactamase-positive strains are reduced to 2 mg/mL, with the addition of clavulanate. MICs of Ticarcillin for 90% of all beta-lactamase-negative strains are 4 mg/mL. 93.4% of the beta-lactamase-producing strains are susceptible to Ticarcillin at less than or equal to 64 mg/mL. [1] Ticarcillin/potassium clavulanate is light stable and resistant to inactivation by β-lactamase. Ticarcillin/potassium clavulanate is more economical than carbenicillin and cefotaxime to eliminate Agrobacterium tumefaciens in plant transformation. [2]

The mean elimination half-life of Ticarcillin (120 mg/kg) in serum is 70.8 minutes in the control subjects and 53.1 minutes in the patients with cystic fibrosis. The total body clearance of Ticarcillin is significantly higher in cystic fibrosis patients (65.6 mL/min/m2 versus 46.2 mL/min/m2 in control subjects). The nonrenal clearance of ticarcillin is also significantly higher in patients with cystic fibrosis (24.8 mL/min/m2 versus 13.3 mL/min/m2 for the control group). [3] Ticarcillin/clavulanate (3.1 g, given iv every 4-6 hours) results in clinical success rate of 80.3% and clinical failure rate of 19.7% in the treatment of complicated skin and skin-structure infections. The overall rate of eradication is 83.7% in the Ticarcillin/clavulanate treatment group in the microbiologically evaluable population. [4] Ticarcillin/clavulanate results in cure rates of 79% at the time of final assessment for the treatment of intra-abdominal infections in pediatric and adult patients. [5]