Source: Medicines & Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (GB) Revision Year: 2022 Publisher: Milpharm Limited, Ares, Odyssey Business Park, West End Road, South Ruislip, HA4 6QD, United Kingdom
Pharmacotherapeutic group: Beta-Lactamase Resistant Penicillins
ATC code: J01CF05
Flucloxacillin is a narrow-spectrum antibiotic of the group of isoxazolyl penicillins; it is not inactivated by staphylococcal β-lactamases.
Flucloxacillin, by its action on the synthesis of the bacterial wall, exerts a bactericidal effect on streptococci except those of group D (Enterococcus faecalis) staphylococci. It is not active against methicillin-resistant staphylococci.
There is evidence that the risk of flucloxacillin induced liver injury is increased in subjects carrying the HLA-B*5701 allele. Despite this strong association, only 1 in 500-1000 carriers will develop liver injury. Consequently, the positive predictive value of testing the HLA-B*5701 allele for liver injury is very low (0.12%) and routine screening for this allele is not recommended.
Flucloxacillin is stable in acid media and can therefore be administered either by the oral or parenteral route. The peak serum levels of flucloxacillin reached after one hour are as follows.
The total quantity absorbed by the oral route represents approximately 79% of the quantity administered.
Flucloxacillin diffuses well into most tissue. Specifically, active concentrations of flucloxacillin have been recovered in bones: 11.6mg/l (compact bone) and 15.6mg/l (spongy bone), with a mean serum level of 8.9mg/l.
Crossing the meningeal barrier: Flucloxacillin diffuses in only small proportion into the cerebrospinal fluid of subjects whose meninges are not inflamed.
Crossing into mothers' milk: Flucloxacillin is excreted in small quantities in mothers' milk.
In normal subjects approximately 10% of the flucloxacillin administered is metabolised to penicilloic acid. The elimination half-life of flucloxacillin is in the order of 53 minutes.
Excretion occurs mainly through the kidney. Between 65.5% (oral route) and 76.1% (parenteral route) of the dose administered is recovered in unaltered active form in the urine within 8 hours. A small portion of the dose administered is excreted in the bile. The excretion of flucloxacillin is slowed in cases of renal failure.
The serum protein-binding rate is 95%.
There are no pre-clinical data of relevance to the prescriber which are additional to that already included in other sections of the SPC.
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