Macrolide Antibiotics

There are only very few chemical classes of antibiotics in medical use, and these have originated over a span of more than 60 years of research. Almost half a century ago, the first member of the macrolides, erythromycin, was introduced as a treatment option for bacterial infections. Erythromycin is a very complex fermentation product obtained from the soil bacterium Saccharopolyspora ery­ thraea (originally named Streptomyces erythreus). The success of erythromycin, based on its efficacy and to