The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 273 No 7307 p47
10 July 2004

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Potential osteoporosis drug

Japanese researchers have developed a method for synthesising norzoanthamine, a substance produced naturally by sea anemones and which has shown promise for treating osteoporosis and leukaemia. The alkaloid had proven difficult to synthesise because of its complex fused ring structures. The researchers report a 39-step method resulting in a 3 per cent yield (published online in Science on 17 June).