The in vitro antibacterial activities of cefozopran (CZOP), an agent of cephems, against various clinical isolates obtained between 1996 and 2001 were yearly evaluated and compared with those of other cephems, oxacephems and carbapenems. A total of 3,245 strains in 32 species of Gram-negative bacteria were isolated from the clinical materials annually collected from January to December, and consisted of Moraxella subgenus Branhamella catarrhalis, Escherichia coli, Citrobacter freundii, Citrobacter koseri, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Klebsiella oxytoca, Enterobacter aerogenes, Enterobacter cloacae, Serratia marcescens, Proteus mirabillis, Proteus vulgaris, Morganella morganii, Providencia spp. (P. alcalifaciens, P. rettgeri, P. stuartii), Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Pseudomonas putida, Burkholderia cepacia, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Haemophilus influenzae, Acinetobactor baumannii, Acinetobactor lwoffii, Bacteroides fragilis group (B. fragilis, B. vulgatus, B. distasonis, B. ovatus, B. thetaiotaomicron), and Prevotella spp. (P. melaninogenica, P. intermedia, P. bivia, P. oralis, P. denticola). CZOP possessed stable antibacterial activities against M. (B.) catarrhalis, E. coli, C. freundii, C. koseri, K. pneumoniae, K. oxytoca, E. aerogenes, E. cloacae, S. marcescens, P. mirabilis, P. vulgaris, M. morganii, Providencia spp., P. aeruginosa, and A. lwoffii throughout 6 years. The MIC90 of CZOP against those strains were consistent with those obtained from the studies performed until the new drug application approval. On the other hand, the MIC90 of CZOP against H. influenzae yearly obviously increased with approximately 64-time difference during the study period. The MIC90 of cefpirome, cefepime, and flomoxef against H. influenzae also yearly tended to rise. The present results demonstrated that CZOP had maintained the antibacterial activity against almost Gram-negative strains tested. However, the decrease in antibacterial activities of CZOP against B. cepacia, and H. influenzae was suggested.