Researchers involved in the development of a new class of antibacterials, the oxazolidinones, provided some cause for optimism for physicians battling the escalating problem of bacterial resistance to standard agents such as penicillins, cephalosporins and vancomycin. Importantly, thein vitrospectrum of activity of the oxazolidinones covers staphylococci, enterococci, streptococci, pneumococci andMycobacterium tuberculosis, including strains that are resistant to other antibacterials. The 35th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy [ICAAC;San Francisco, US; September 1995] was a showcase for 25 poster presentations on the properties of these agents, which are in preclinical and early clinical development.