Rifampicin Lambert M Surhone

Publisher Marketing: Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Rifampicin (INN) (pronounced /r faemp s n/) or rifampin (USAN) is a bactericidal antibiotic drug of the rifamycin group. It is a semisynthetic compound derived from Amycolatopsis rifamycinica (formerly known as Amycolatopsis mediterranei and Streptomyces mediterranei). Rifampicin may be abbreviated R, RMP, RD, RA, or RIF (US). In 1957, a sample of soil coming from a pine wood on the French Riviera was brought for analysis to the Lepetit Pharmaceuticals research lab in Milan, Italy. There, a research group headed by Prof. Piero Sensi (1920-) discovered a new bacterium. This new species appeared immediately of great scientific interest since it was producing a new class of molecules with antibiotic activity. Because Prof. Sensi and some of his fellow researchers were particularly fond of the French crime story Rififi (about a jewel heist and rival gangs), they decided to call these compounds "Rifamycins." After two years of attempts in order to obtain more stable semi-synthetic products, in 1959 a new molecule with high efficacy and good tolerability was produced and was named "Rifampicin"