A high-performance liquid chromatographic assay for determination of cefonicid concentrations in human plasma and urine samples has been developed using cefazolin as an internal standard. For the analysis of plasma samples two calibration curves were utilized covering the cefonicid concentration ranges of 0.05-1.0 microgram/ml and 1.0-50.0 micrograms/ml, respectively. Coefficients of variation of 7.4% or less were obtained for cefonicid concentrations of 0.05-50.0 micrograms/ml. Mean bias was +6.0% at 0.05 micrograms/ml cefonicid and between -2.1% and +1.6% for 1.0-50.0 micrograms/ml cefonicid. Plasma samples containing 30 ng/ml cefonicid could be well distinguished from blank plasma samples. Urine samples were analysed by using a calibration curve for cefonicid concentrations between 1.0 and 50.0 micrograms/ml. ranged from 8.6% at a cefonicid concentration of 1.0 microgram/ml to 0.5% at 50.0 micrograms/ml with a mean bias between -3.0% and +0.3%.