Complex synthesis yields breast-cancer therapy

摘要

The latest breast-cancer chemotherapy to hit the market is more than just a triumph for patients in desperate need of treatment. Approved by the US Food and Drug Administration on 15 November, the highly complex molecule Halaven (eribulin mesylate) is the product of nearly 25 years of struggle in the lab. It represents a hard-won victory for the total synthesis of natural products, a field of chemistry that, although still popular in academia, had gone out of fashion for many in the pharmaceutical industry.