Tigecycline belong to glycylcycline antibiotics. This new group of antibiotics was derived from lipophilic tetracyclines but differs from them by higher effectivity, lower affinity to bacterial resistance mechanisms, and very long half-time.
Tigecycline is registered for treatment two groups of infections: skin and soft tissue infections and complicated intra-abdominal infections. Nevertheless, its therapeutic use probably can be enlarged to pneumonia, STD, infections caused by multi-resistant Helicobacter pylori, subacute and chronic infections associated with biofilm formation, and serious infections caused by intracelular pathogens (serious brucellosis, Q-fever, rickettsial infections).
By contrast, tigecycline seems not appropriate for treatment sepsis and similar acute life-threatening bacterial diseases.