Biotech Values

[rfj1862]

A brief history of Rapamycin and its derivatives

The story of Rapamycin starts almost 35 years ago, when a sample of soil was taken from Rapa Nui (Easter Island). Rapamycin was extracted from the soil and since the mid 1970s has been used as an anti-fungal agent. In the 1990s, Rapamycin was discovered to have immunosuppressive effects and in 1999 was approved under the brand Rapamune as an anti-rejection drug in kidney transplants. During the testing as a transplant rejection drug, anti-tumor effects were observed as well. Since then, three analogs of Rapamycin have been developed for use as anti-tumor agents: CCI-779 (Temsirolimus) by Wyeth, AP23573 by Ariad and RAD-001 (Everolimus) by Novartis.

http://www.liddyshriversarcomainitiative.org/Newsletters/V02N02/rapamycin_derivatives.htm