A rat central venous catheter (CVC) infection model was used to assess the activity of LY333328 against vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE). Via the CVC, animals were challenged with 10(6) cfu of Enterococcus faecium with the VanA phenotype. Eight rats received a single dose of LY333328 and eight rats received saline. Seventy-five per cent of control animals had peripheral bacteraemia and 87.5% had VRE recovered from explanted CVCs at the time they were killed, as compared with 0 and 12.5%, respectively, of the LY333328-treated animals (P < 0.01). All animals in the control group had evidence of metastatic disease compared with none of the treated group (P < 0.01). LY333328 was effective against the strain of VRE tested in this model.