NEWS OF THE WEEK ANTIBIOTICS
TREATING TB FASTER Diarylquinoline is first selective TB agent in 40 years to reach clinical trials
A
NEW TUBERCULOSIS DRUG
with a novel mechanism of action may significantly shorten TB treatment regimens when used in combination with existing drugs. TB is an often-fatal chronic bacterial infection that attacks the lungs and other organs. Onethird of the world's population currently has latent or active TB, and the disease killed about 2 million people in 2002. Treatment currently involves adrninistering a cocktail of drugs for six to nine months. But compliance is poor, particularly in developing countries. Stopping treatment too soon can make patients relapse and cause the TB
bacillus, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, to become drug-resistant. Faster TB treatments are thus urgently needed, but no new antibiotic selective forTB and other mycobacteria has reached clinical trials in the past 4 0 years. Now, the first such agent, the diarylquinoline R207910, has been identified by Koen Andries of Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical R&D, Beerse, Belgium, and coworkers {Science, published online Dec. 9, http://dx.doi.org/10. 1126/science.ll06753}. They discovered the drug by screening compound libraries for antibiotic activity R207910 was found to kill TB and other mycobacteria, including drug-resis-
BUSINESS
SHIN-ETSU SLATES U.S. PVC COMPLEX Integrated project on the Gulf Coast will revive plans from late 1990s
J
APANS SHIN-ETSU C H E M I -
cal says it will spend $1 billion to build an integrated polyvinyl chloride complex on the U.S. Gulf Coast. Shin-Etsu plans to build the complex on one of the three sites—Freeport, Texas; Plaquemine, La.; and Addis, La.—operated by its U.S. PVC subsidiary Shintech. The company says the project will "further solidify" its number one position in the world PVC market. Unlike its facilities inJapan and Europe, Shin-Etsu's U.S. P V C plants obtain vinyl chloride feedstock from a third party, Dow HTTP://WWW.CEN-ONLINE.ORG
Chemical. The proposed complex, however, will be integrated with its own vinyl chloride as well as chlorine and caustic soda. Shin-Etsu says the facilities will be built in phases to be completed in late 2006 and late 2 0 0 7 By then, the complex will have capacity for 1.0 billion lb per year of chlorine, 1.1 billion lb of caustic soda, 1.65 billion lb of vinyl chloride, and 1.3 billion lb of PVC. Shin-Etsu says it is also evaluating building a U.S. ethylene plant. The company, which claims a 30% share of the North American PVC market, tried to build a
RESISTANT Surgeon, researcher, and multidrugresistant TB patient discuss her case. tant strains. It acts by inhibiting ATP synthase, a mechanism of action never before described for any antibiotic, Andries says. When administered with other drugs to tubercular mice, R207910 shortened treatment times by about half, and it was well tolerated in Phase I studies in healthy human volunteers. The agent will be developed by Tibotec, in Mechelen, Belgium.-STU BORMAN
similar integrated plant in Convent, La., in the late 1990s. However, it dropped the project in the face of environmental opposition and opted instead to build a PVConly plant adjacent to Dow's Plaquemine NUMBER ONE site. In 2002, Shin-EtShintech is already U.S. PVC su acquired a Borden leader Chemicals & Plastics P V C plant in Addis that is currently idle for lack of feedstock. If Shintech chooses Plaquemine or Addis, Vice President Ervin E. Schroeder expects the local comU.S. annual capacity • 15.7 billion lb munity will be recepNOTE: Estimated capacities based on March 1 data. SOURCE: SRI Consulting tive, now that the company "has a positive record to build on in Louisiana." The decision to build in the U.S. is rare these days for big petrochemical projects. Schroeder says it reflects the Japanese firm's confidence in the country's political stability and economic strength.-MICHAEL MCCOY C&EN
/ DECEMBER
13, 2004
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