J-Star is pleased to announce the completion of a synthesis of an Epothilone derivative for one of our clients.

The Epothilones are a class of naturally occurring bacterial metabolites¹ which possess cytotoxic and antifungal properties. These compounds were later discovered at Merck², in the course of screening for substances with paclitaxel-like anti-cancer mode of action, to possess similar ability to stabilize cellular microtubules.

The particular synthetic derivative of this class of compounds which we synthesized along with several key steps utilized is shown here.

The complex synthetic sequence employed 28 total steps and constitutes a milestone achievement in the history of our company.
This challenging project undertaken by Drs. Andrew Thompson (President) and Thomas Shih (Principal Scientist) highlights our capabilities to scale up (cGMP) and synthesize a complex natural product with potential life saving application.

Our staff of expert scientists with combined experience in medicinal and process chemistry are available to support your research and scale up needs.

1. K. Gerth, N. Bedorf, G. Höfle, H. Irschik, and H. Reichenbach, J. Antibiot. 1996, 49, 560. G. Höfle, N. Bedorf, H. Steinmetz, D. Schomburg, K. Gerth, and H. Reichenbach, Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. Engl. 1996, 35, 1567.

2. D. M. Bollag, P. A. McQueney, J. Zhu, O. Hensens, L. Koupal, J. Leisch, M. Goetz, E. Lazarides, and C. M. Woods, Cancer Res. 1995, 55, 2325.