Marine pharmacology and the 2011 pharmaceuticals pipeline

As the renaissance in the pharmacology of marine natural products continues (Glaser and Mayer, Biochemical Pharmacology 78:440–448, 2009), the purpose of this project was to assess the status of the clinical marine pharmaceuticals pipeline in late 2010. Leading investigators in marine natural products pharmacology research in academic and pharmaceutical communities were surveyed during September 2010. Results were the following: there were two FDA‐approved marine‐derived drugs in the US market, namely cytarabine (Cytosar‐U®, Depocyt®) and ziconotide (Prialt®) while vidarabine (Vira‐A®) was no longer available and, Trabectedin (Yondelis®) being EU‐registered. The clinical marine pharmaceutical pipeline, recently reviewed (Mayer et al. TIPS 31:255–265, 2010), consisted of thirteen marine‐derived compounds but with three new additions, monoclonal antibodies conjugated to synthetic dolastatin derivatives, that were in Phase I, Phase II or Phase III clinical trials. Finally, the preclinical marine pharmacology pipeline remained a global enterprise with researchers from several countries reporting novel mechanisms of action for multiple marine chemicals (Mayer et al. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology C, 2010, in press). We conclude that marine pharmacology research as well as the clinical pharmaceuticals pipeline remained very active in 2010. Supported by Midwestern University.