Meropenem is an ultra-broad spectrum injectable antibiotic used to treat a wide variety of infections, including meningitis and pneumonia. It is a beta-lactam and belongs to the subgroup carbapenem. An antibiotic is a drug that kills or slows the growth of bacteria. ... Meningitis is inflammation of the membranes (meninges) covering the brain and the spinal cord. ... Pneumonia is an illness of the lungs and respiratory system in which the microscopic, alveoli (air-filled sacs) responsible for absorbing oxygen from the atmosphere become inflamed and flooded with fluid. ... A beta-lactam (β-lactam) or penam is a lactam with a heteroatomic ring structure, consisting of three carbon atoms and one nitrogen atom. ... Carbapenems are a class of beta-lactam antibiotics. ...

Meropenem was developed by Sumitomo Pharmaceuticals. It is marketed outside Japan by AstraZeneca with the brand names Merrem and Meronem. AstraZeneca PLC (LSE: AZN), is a large Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company formed on 6 April 1999 by the merger of Swedish Astra AB and British Zeneca Group PLC. Zeneca was part of Imperial Chemical Industries prior to a demerger in 1993. ...

Unlike imipenem, it is stable to renal dehydrogenase and can therefore be given without cilastatin. In penetrates into the cerebrospinal fluid. Imipenem is an intravenous beta-lactam antibiotic developed in 1985. ... Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), Liquor cerebrospinalis, is a clear bodily fluid that occupies the subarachnoid space in the brain (the space between the skull and the cerebral cortex—more specifically, between the arachnoid and pia layers of the meninges). ...

Meropenem can be used interchangeably and is stable against kidney dihydropeptidase, therefore cilastin is not needed. Meropenem also has a reduced potential for causing seizures in comparison with imipenem