Dr. Jordi Rello, head of the Intensive Care Service and the Clinical Research/Innovation in Pneumonia & Sepsis (CRIPS) group at Vall d’Hebron Institute of Research (VHIR), has coordinated a study of the "http://www.esicm.org/" European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM) conducted in 7 countries and funded by the European Critical Care Research Network (ECCRN). Through a multicenter clinical trial researchers demonstrated the need to personalize the beta-lactam antibiotic dosing in critically ill patients, in order to avoid adverse outcomes. The study, published in "http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24429437" Clinical Infectious Diseases, was led by Dr. Jason Roberts, associate professor of the School of Medicine at the University of Queensland (Australia), has involved 68 intensive care units, including Dr. Rello’s service at Vall d’Hebron University Hospital. Researchers proved on a large scale of 384 patients that current beta-lactam dosing does not consistently achieve therapeutic drug exposures: not only are there many patients with low concentrations who are 30% less likely to have a positive clinical outcome, but there are many that also have high and potentially toxic concentrations. According to Dr. Rello, the study reveals that it is necessary to know the plasma levels of mechanically ventilated patients, that therapeutic failure of antibiotics in critically ill patients is related to an inadequate exposure to antibiotics, and it spurs research to reduce the emergence of antibiotic resistance through dose optimization. Besides, the head of the CRIPS highlights that “the data obtained in the study is very valuable because it has been proved that some clinical trials failed because of the antibiotic levels”.