There has recently been a clinical demand for cefuroxime formulated as an eyedrop. Cefuroxime exhibits a broad spectrum of activity against most common ocular infections and is considered to be less toxic to the compromised epithelium than some other topical antibiotics. A formulation in an artificial tear solution would be expected to enhance drug penetration by prolonging pre‐corneal drug retention, and the presence of a preservative might enable a suitable formulation to be given a shelf life of more than 24 hours.This paper reports studies on the stability of cefuroxime 50mg/ml (5 per cent) in artificial tear solutions, sodium chloride eye‐drops and in solutions of benzalkonium chloride, hypromellose or water for injections. Cefuroxime was assayed by high performance liquid chromatography. The method had a coefficient of variation of 0.23 per cent at the concentration investigated and recovery of added cefuroxime was 100 per cent. The preparation of cefuroxime in artificial tear solutions which were preservative free or contained benzalkonium chloride less than 0.002 per cent appeared to be physically stable. Preparation of cefuroxime in Sno Tears also produced a stable solution. This preparation can be given a shelf life of 28 days at 4C, 24 hours at 25C and 14 days if stored in a domestic refrigerator, enabling a full course of treatment to be given on a single visit to the pharm
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