The activity of the new cephalosporin CXA-101 (CXA), previously designated FR264205, was evaluated against a collection of 236 carbapenem-resistant P. aeruginosa isolates, including 165 different clonal types, from a Spanish multicenter (127-hospital) study. The MICs of CXA were compared to the susceptibility results for antipseudomonal penicillins, cephalosporins, carbapenems, aminoglycosides, and fluoroquinolones. The MIC of CXA in combination with tazobactam (4 and 8 microg/ml) was determined for strains with high CXA MICs. The presence of acquired beta-lactamases was investigated by isoelectric focusing and PCR amplification followed by sequencing. Additional beta-lactamase genes were identified by cloning and sequencing. The CXA MIC50/MIC90 for the complete collection of carbapenem-resistant P. aeruginosa isolates was 1/4 microg/ml, with 95.3% of the isolates showing an MIC of <or=8 microg/ml. Cross-resistance with any of the antibiotics tested was not observed; the MIC50/MIC90 of CXA-101 was still 1/4 when multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains (42% of all tested isolates) or AmpC-hyperproducing clones (53%) were analyzed. Almost all (10/11) of the strains showing a CXA MIC of >8 microg/ml produced a horizontally acquired beta-lactamase, including the metallo-beta-lactamase (MBL) VIM-2 (one strain), the extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) PER-1 (one strain), several extended-spectrum OXA enzymes (OXA-101 [one strain], OXA-17 [two strains], and a newly described OXA-2 derivative [W159R] designated OXA-144 [four strains]), and a new BEL variant (BEL-3) ESBL (one strain), as identified by cloning and sequencing. Synergy with tazobactam in these 11 strains was limited, although 8 microg/ml reduced the mean CXA MIC by 2-fold. CXA is highly active against carbapenem-resistant P. aeruginosa isolates, including MDR strains. Resistance was restricted to still-uncommon strains producing an acquired MBL or ESBL.