The in vitro activity against 30 Helicobacter pylori strains of three new third generation cephalosporins, cefpodoxime, ceftibuten and cefixime, which can be administered orally, was determined using an agar dilution technique under microaerophilic conditions. The MIC50 and MIC90 of cefpodoxime was 0.5 and 4.0 micrograms/ml respectively, of ceftibuten 2.0 and 8.0 micrograms/ml, and of cefixime 0.06 and 0.5 microgram/ml. All antibiotics showed good activity against Helicobacter pylori, cefixime having the highest activity of the three agents.