Moxifloxacin is a fourth-generation synthetic fluoroquinolone antibacterial. Moxifloxacin is a 8-methoxy quinolone and differs from other quinolones.

Moxifloxacin hydrochloride has been used to study its antibacterial action against bacteria that have grown to high density.

Moxifloxacin has proved to be effective in treating sinusitis, community-acquired respiratory tract infection, pneumonia and acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis. It has improved anti-gram positive activity compared to other fluoroquinolone such as ciprofloxacin and ofloxacin. Moxifloxacin is useful in treating skin infections that is of bacterial origin. It is known to have proper penetration into peripheral tissues and inflammatory fluids. Fluoroquinolones stabilize DNA strand breaks created by DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV by binding to the enzyme-DNA complex. Compared to mammalian DNA gyrase, moxifloxacin has 100 times higher affinity for bacterial DNA gyrase. Moxifloxacin is an antibiotic and works against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Moxifloxacin is being investigated for the treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.