Fungerps: discovery of the glucan synthase inhibitor enfumafungin and development of a new class of antifungal triterpene glycosides

Covering: up to 2024

Fungal pathogens are a major threat to public health, with emerging resistance to all three classes of antifungals that are currently available and increased incidence of invasive fungal infections among hospitalized patients. Ibrexafungerp is a semi-synthetic analog of enfumafungin and the first antifungal agent approved in more than 20 years since the launch of caspofungin, the first of echinocandins. This new drug approval was made possible after a long arduous journey lasting 25 years by dedicated and talented medicinal chemists from two companies that undertook tedious atom-by-atom chemical modification of the natural product enfumafungin, a glycosylated fernane-type triterpenoid isolated from the fungus Hormonema carpetanum. This highlight will cover the discovery of enfumafungin, its biosynthesis and the characterisation of its antifungal profile and mode of action that led to the development of ibrexafungerp. We will discuss the challenges encountered during this long preclinical program and the clinical trial validation of this first-in-class oral antifungal approved to treat vulvovaginal candidiasis with an enormous therapeutic potential to treat future major threatening drug-resistant fungal pathogens.