Telavancin is the first available lipoglycopeptide antibacterial agent. It is active against Gram-positive bacteria, including meticillin/oxacillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains associated with complicated skin and skin structure infections (cSSSIs). In randomized, double-blind trials, intravenous telavancin 10 mg/kg once daily (administered as a 1-hour infusion) was effective in the treatment of adult patients with cSSSIs, including those with infections caused by MRSA, as shown by clinical cure rates in clinically evaluable, all-treated and microbiologically evaluable populations at the test-of-cure (TOC) visit. Telavancin 10 mg/kg once daily was noninferior to intravenous vancomycin 1 g every 12 hours, with clinical cure rates of 88% versus 87% at the TOC visit in pooled data from the clinically evaluable population (n = 1489) of two phase III trials. Pooled clinical cure rates in telavancin recipients at the TOC visit were also not significantly different from those in vancomycin recipients in the all-treated or microbiologically evaluable populations, including microbiologically evaluable subgroups with baseline infections caused by MRSA, meticillin-susceptible S. aureus or other Gram-positive pathogens. Telavancin was generally well tolerated in patients with cSSSIs, with most adverse events being of mild or moderate severity.