Echinocandins - an update

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Abstract
Echinocandins and echinocandin-like compounds are non-competitive inhibitors of the synthesis of 1,3-β-D-glucan, a major and essential component in the wall of many important fungal pathogens. Since this polysaccharide is not present in mammalian cells the glucan synthase became an attractive target for the development of new antifungal agents. In the last 25 years, several research institutes claimed new synthetic derivatives of echinocandin B and related natural cyclic hexapeptides with antifungal activity. The main goal is to find glucan synthesis inhibitors with a broad spectrum of fungicidal activity and useful oral bioavailability. In the last 3 years several patents have been filed and papers published, most of them claim novel echinocandin-like compounds, a few present processes for preparing oral echinocandin formulations and others include combinations of echinocandins with other antifungal agents, calcineurin inhibitors or human effector cells.