The first β-lactam ring system was synthesized by H. Staudinger in 1907, but β-lactams as a class of compounds became attractive only after it was established that penicillin contained a β-lactam unit as the structural feature. Over the years, countless numbers of penicillin derivatives and a variety of new β-lactam ring systems have been prepared, tested, and introduced. As a class of β-lactam derivatives, selenium-containing bicyclic β-lactams have received only a limited attention. In this review the advances in the development of synthesis methods for selenium-containing bicyclic β-lactams are presented and discussed.