Copper-containing biomaterials have excellent inhibitory effect on bacteria growth by releasing copper ions at high concentration, which may have cytotoxicity at the same time. Although low concentration of copper ions has good cytocompatibility, the antibacterial activity is unsatisfactory. Therefore, it is of great significance to develop copper- containing biomaterials, which have excellent antibacterial property and good cytocompatibility. In this study, on considering the antagonistic effect between copper and molybdenum, molybdenum doped cuprorivaite (Mo-Cup) was synthesized by Sol-Gel method and its antibacterial properties and cell compatibility were evaluated by bacterial plate experiment and cell activity assay. The results showed that copper ions with high concentration (above 8.87 μg∙mL ^-1) released from Mo-Cup had a good inhibitory effect on Staphylococcus aureus. In addition, because the antagonistic effect between copper and molybdenum ions released from Mo-Cup can reduce the cytotoxicity of high concentration of copper ions, the survival rate of umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) was as high as 90% in the extracts of Mo-Cup at a high Cu ion concentration (9.65 μg∙mL ^-1). Therefore, molybdenum doping can be considered as an effective approach to reduce the cytotoxicity of copper-containing biomaterials for the development of low-toxic antibacterial biomaterials.