Immunosuppressants, pharmaceutical industry

Natural products offer a source of unique chemical diversity for the pharmaceutical industry. Numerous successful drugs derived from natural products have been introduced for the treatment of cancer (Hung et al., 1996 Pettit et al, 1994), immunosuppression (Perico et al., 1996), cardiovascular therapy (Nadin and Nicolaou, 1996 Tomoda et al., 1994), and antiinfective therapy (Turner and Rodriguez, 1996). 

The pharmaceutical industry should pay close attention to these items in the earliest stages of product development, including clinical stages. Several years ago the drug zidovudine (an antiviral) was referred to as AZT in clinical trials. The abbreviation was brought along as the product was marketed. However, AZT had been a common abbreviation for azathioprine (an immunosuppressant), and several errors... 

The development of the macrolide immunosuppressants was the result of careful basic and clinical research conducted by the pharmaceutical industry in close collaboration with the medical and scientific communities from around the world. The resultant drugs that have been developed to date and those still on the horizon promise to continue to benefit patients and provide physicians with valuable and novel therapeutic choices. 

Macrocychc lactone synthesis is a topic of considerable interest to the pharmaceutical industry because this function constitutes the basic framework of many medicinally valuable compounds. Examples include erythromycin A, a widely used macrolide antibiotic (Real Life 20-2), and tacrolimus (Protopic), a powerful immunosuppressant that shows great promise in controlling the rejection of transplanted organs in human patients. 

---