Botanically Sourced Drugs

“Nature’s Second Act” is a most welcome and informative article (C&EN, Sept. 2, page 17). However, a note under the pie chart on page 20 states that “botanical sources contribute to less than 1% of small-molecule drugs.” This is incorrect.

The error may stem from a misinterpretation of a figure in the source report cited, which defines the category “NB (natural product ‘botanical’)” (J. Nat. Prod. 2012, DOI: 10.1021/np200906s). An important distinction is that this is a new class of “botanical drug products,” with the first such Food & Drug Administration-approved entry having occurred only in 2006 for Veregen (sinecatechins; Nat. Biotechnol. 2008, DOI: 10.1038/nbt1008-1077). These are not synonymous with single-chemical-entity natural product drugs from plant sources. Indeed, plant-derived natural products have historically yielded, and are continuing to yield, many new small-molecule drugs for patient use as well as druglike leads for medicinal chemists to optimize (J. Nat. Prod. 2011, DOI: 10.1021/np200391c).

Some recent examples of plant natural products and their derivatives that have been approved as first-in-class drugs by FDA include Coartem, a methyl ether derivative of artemisinin in combination with lumefantrine, approved in 2009 for multi-drug-resistant malaria; Picato, ingenol-3-mebutate, approved in 2012 for actinic keratosis; and Synribo, omacetaxine mepesuccinate, approved in 2012 for chronic myeloid leukemia. We are excited to see the field of marine, microbial, and plant natural products research continue to contribute to biology, chemistry, and medicine, as well as to grow and develop in ways including those highlighted by the article.

C. Benjamin Naman
A. Douglas Kinghorn
Columbus, Ohio