SYMBIOCHEM®：A UNIQUE DRUG DISCOVERY PLATFORM

SYMBIOCHEM® is proprietary know-how and technology that Welichem developed and employs for the discovery of novel compounds from symbiotic organisms and it is a registered trademark of Welichem Biotech Inc. During the past several years, a large number of compounds have been identified, using SYMBIOCHEM®. Many of these compounds are new to science and have bioactivities that are of great interest to the pharmaceutical industry.

General Protocol of SYMBIOCHEM®:

As a general process SYMBIOCHEM® utilizes several conventional microbiological and natural chemistry methods. These include isolation, characterization, and fermentation of bacteria, purification and characterization of compounds from the secondary metabolites. The initial biological component of the process normally takes one to two weeks; the purification and identification of compounds may take from several days to several months depending on the complexity of a particular chemical. The bacterial isolation and fermentation is based on published microbiological methods, but with important modifications. These modifications include a certain level of expertise and/or know-how that is the core of SYMBIOCHEM®. The successful isolation and fermentation of the primary form bacteria requires experience. Special culture conditions and media composition are required in order to produce the particular metabolites of interest. Chemical purification and characterization demands in depth knowledge and experience of natural products chemistry and reliable bioassays are needed to guide the process. This process is not high throughput but rather a focused screening and the rate of novelty is exceptionally high.

Natural Small Molecular Compounds Generated through SYMBIOCHEM®:

Over 40 secondary metabolites have been identified from cultures of Xenorhabdus and Photorhabdus by Welichem using only antimicrobial activity as an assay. These metabolites belong to diverse chemical classes that include aromatic, heterocyclic compounds, nuc1eosides and macrolides. Some of these compounds were already known and some are produced by other organisms such as streptomycetes. However, more than 50 % of the compounds identified through SYMBIOCHEM® have not been reported previously. Most species of Xenorhabdus and Photorhabdus produce more than one group of bioactive secondary metabolites, and the metabolites from Xenorhabdus are more diverse than those from Photorhabdus. Different bacterial species produce different kinds of secondary metabolites. These metabolites not only have diverse chemical structures, but also a wide range of bioactivities of medicinal and agricultural interest, such as antibiotic, antimycotic, insecticidal, nematicidal, antiulcer, antineoplastic and antiviral.