A mini-review of recent W.O. patents (2004-2005) of novel anti-fungal compounds in the field of anti-infective drug targets.

Weimin Zhang, Donald Becker, Q. Cheng

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

Anti-infective agents are used to treat disorders caused by bacteria, viruses, protozoa, worms, and fungi (including yeast). They are substances used on humans, animals and plants that destroy harmful microorganisms or inhibit their activity. In this mini-review, we are focusing on novel development of anti-fungal agents that have been published during the past two years. Fungi are eukaryotic microorganisms comprising over 100,000 species. Nearly 40% of all deaths from hospital-acquired infections were caused by fungi over the past 20 years. An effective anti-fungal agent is toxic to the pathogenic fungi, but not to the host. Treatment of fungi diseases, however, is often limited because anti-fungal agents are often toxic to the mammalian or plant host. In this review, 11 patents were chronologically and unbiasedly selected from 454 that fit the criteria out of a 4,716,037 patents search. These patents highlight the novel approaches that have been used to tackle difficult fungi. The strategies include targeting key fungal structures and metabolic pathways, developing manufacturing processes of anti-fungal reagents, unique membrane interfering fungicides, and plant and insect defensins.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)225-230
Number of pages6
JournalRecent patents on anti-infective drug discovery
Volume1
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2006

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Drug Discovery
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Pharmacology (medical)

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