NEWS OF THE WEEK
STOPPING DRUG SHORTAGES POLICY: Obama Administration takes steps to ensure availability of critical pharmaceuticals
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HARMACEUTICAL companies are under pres-
sure to notify the Food & Drug Administration earlier and more often about expected prescription drug shortages, after President Barack Obama signed an SHORT SUPPLY Shortage of executive order on Oct. 31 urgcritical drugs is a growing problem. ing such compliance. The order stops short, however, of a man◼ 2010 Antibiotics ◼ 2011a datory reporting requirement Cardiovascular for the drug industry. Chemotherapy The action was welcomed CNS by medical societies, the pharmaceutical industry, and other Electrolytes stakeholders as a step toward 0 10 20 30 40 minimizing drug shortages in Number of shortages the U.S. NOTE: a = As of Oct. 31. CNS = central nervous But some people are quessystem, which included anesthesia drugs. tioning whether industry will SOURCE: University of Utah Drug Information Service follow through without a legal
ENLIGHTENING ARYLATION CATALYSIS: Combining metal- and
light-catalyzed processes leads to milder biaryl formation
Y MARRYING two catalytic cycles—one mediated by palladium and the other by light—chemists Sanford’s at the University of Michigan have developed a photocatalysisC–H arylation reaction that proceeds at room temperapalladium catalysis ture (J. Am. Chem. Soc., DOI: 10.1021/ja208068w). The combo arylates merger is “a far-reaching concept” that could extend even sensitive the capabilities of C–H activation chemistry for making substrates. pharmaceuticals and materials, says chemistry profesN sor Melanie S. Sanford, who HO HO – led the Michigan team. N+ BF4 Ru catalyst, N N Aryl-aryl bonds light, Pd catalyst are common mo+ tifs, but C–H activation routes to these bonds require acidic solvents, elevated temperatures, or both. To improve that state of affairs, postdoc Dipannita Kalyani and graduate students Kate B. McMurtrey and Sharon R. Neufeldt
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requirement. “Manufacturers have demonstrated that, absent regulatory or legislative requirements, they will not consistently and voluntarily share information with FDA,” the Endocrine Society said in a statement. The executive order more than doubles the number of FDA staff devoted to drug shortages and requires FDA to expedite regulatory reviews of new manufacturing sites, suppliers, and changes in manufacturing practices associated with drugs that are in short supply. It also calls on FDA to work with the Department of Justice “to examine whether ‘gray market’ profiteers are responding to potential drug shortages either by hoarding medication or charging exorbitant prices,” Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the Department of Health & Human Services, said at an Oct. 31 briefing. The Obama Administration is leaving it up to Congress to provide FDA with the authority needed to put teeth into the order. At the signing of the directive, Obama urged lawmakers to pass H.R. 2245 and S. 296, legislation that would give FDA the ability to require and enforce reporting of all potential drug shortages. For now, drug manufacturers are required to notify FDA before they stop the production of a critical drug only if they are the sole provider. If more than one company makes the drug, such reporting is voluntary. The pharmaceutical industry has pledged to do what it can to stop drug shortages, which have primarily affected generic injectable drugs, including cancer treatments, antibiotics, and anesthetics.—BRITT ERICKSON
revisited a C–H arylation reaction Sanford developed in 2005. That reaction barely worked at room temperature. But after studying the reaction’s mechanism, the team realized they could fix that by changing their arylating reagent to something more reactive—aryl radicals. To generate aryl radicals under mild conditions, the Michigan team looked to an emerging movement— combining catalytic processes (C&EN, Sept. 8, 2008, page 10). By adding a ruthenium(II) bipyridine catalyst to their palladium-catalyzed process, Sanford’s team harvested light from a compact fluorescent bulb to produce aryl radicals. The room-temperature method is compatible with functional groups, such as oximes, that don’t behave well in traditional C–H activations. In addition to studying the reaction’s mechanism, Sanford’s team is exploring ways to extend the merger concept. “All sorts of radicals and reactive species can be generated with photocatalysis,” she says. Coupling those species with palladium-catalyzed C–C bond formations would open up many new synthetic doors, she adds. “I am convinced that the mild nature of this transformation renders it very attractive for sophisticated applications, including C–H activations of sensitive materials like metal-organic frameworks,” says Frank Glorius, who studies C–H activation at the University of Münster, in Germany. “Moreover, I expect this work to inspire many more related processes using other catalytically active metals.”—CARMEN DRAHL
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