First Drugs
Rifamycins were first isolated in 1957 from a fermentation culture of Streptomyces mediterranei at the laboratory of Gruppo Lepetit SpA in Milan by two scientist named Piero Sensi and Maria Teresa Timbal, working with the Israeli scientist Pinhas Margalith. Eventually, around seven rifamycins were discovered, named Rifamycin A, B, C, D, E, S, and SV.
Of the various rifamycins, Rifamycin B was the first introduced commercially. Lepetit filed for patent protection of Rifamycin B in the UK in August 1958, and in the US in March 1959. The British patent GB921045 was granted in March 1963, and U.S. Patent 3,150,046 was granted in September 1964. The drug is widely regarded as having helped conquer the issue of drug-resistant tuberculosis in the 1960s.
Read more about this topic: Rifamycin
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