FR 179642 is a member of the echinocandin antifungal family patented in 1991 by Ueda and colleagues at Fujisawa, now
Astellas Pharma. FR 179642 is formed by the selective hydrolysis of FR 901379 using a cyclic lipopeptide acylase found in
<0.1% of soil microbes, notably three undescribed Streptomyces and two fungi. Like all echocandins, FR 179642 inhibits the synthesis of 1,3-β-D-glucan in the fungal cell wall. FR 179642 is an important pharmaceutical intermediate for production of the commercial antifungal, micafungin.
