The invention relates to novel chimeric antibiotics of formula I
wherein
R
1
is CH
2
NHCOR
5
, heteroarylmethyl, heteroaryloxymethyl or heteroarylaminomethyl;
R
2
is H, OH, OSO
3
H, OPO
3
H
2
, OCH
2
OPO
3
H
2
, OCOCH
2
CH
2
COOH, OCOR
6
;
R
3
is H or halogen;
R
4
is (C
1
-C
3
)alkyl, (C
1
-C
3
)haloalkyl or cycloalkyl;
R
5
is alkyl or haloalkyl; and
R
6
is the residue of a naturally occurring amino acid or of dimethylaminoglycine.
These chimeric compounds are useful in the manufacture of medicaments for the treatment of infections (e.g. bacterial infections).