Five adamantyl-containing carboxamides of eremomycin or vancomycin were synthesized and theirantibacterial activities against some Gram-positive clinical isolates were investigated in vitro and in vivo.The adamantyl-2 amide of glycopeptide antibiotic eremomycin (
1a in Chart 1, AN0900) was the most activecompound and showed high activity against several Gram-positive pathogens: vancomycin-susceptiblestaphylococci and enterococci, glycopeptide-intermediate-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus, and glycopeptide-resistant enterococci. Compound
1a was equally active in vitro against both Ciprofloxacin-susceptible and-resistant
Bacillus anthracis strains (MICs 0.25-0.5
g/mL). It was distinguished by having a 2.8 h half-life (
t1/2) in mice and a volume of distribution of 2.18 L/kg. Compound
1a was active against
Staphylococcusaureus in mice (iv) and provided complete protection against a lethal intravenous challenge with vegetative
B. anthracis bacilli and also in a murine pulmonary anthrax model in which mice were challenged with
Bacillus anthracis spores.