The sodium salt of the second-generation, semi-synthetic, beta-lactam cephalosporin cefmetazole with antibacterial activity. Cefmetazole binds to penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) and prevents the crosslinking of peptidoglycan, which may result in the inhibition of cell wall synthesis, the loss of cell wall integrity, and bacterial cell wall rupture. PBPs are transpeptidases that are responsible for peptidoglycan crosslinking.