Syntex
Encyclopedia
Laboratorios Syntex SA was a pharmaceutical company formed in Mexico City
in 1944 by Russell Marker
to manufacture therapeutic steroid
s from the Mexican yam.
Syntex chemists synthesized cortisone
from diosgenin
, a phytosteroid contained in Mexican yams. This synthesis was more economical than the previous Merck & Co.
synthesis, which started with soy products.
Syntex was integrated into the Roche group
in 1994.
, for biological evaluation, and found it was the most active, orally-effective progestational hormone of its time. Syntex submitted a patent application in November 1951. In August 1953, G.D. Searle & Co. filed for a patent for the synthesis of the double-bond isomer 13 of norethindrone called norethynodrel. Norethynodrel is converted into norethindrone under acidic conditions, such as those in the human stomach
, and the new patent did not infringe on the Syntex patent. Searle obtained approval to market norethynodrel before Syntex received its approval. By 1964 three 3 companies including Syntex were marketing 2-mg doses of the Syntex norethindrone.
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
in 1944 by Russell Marker
Russell Marker
Russell Earl Marker was an American chemist who invented the octane rating system when he was working at the Ethyl Corporation. Later in his career, he went on to found a steroid industry in Mexico when he successfully made synthetic progesterone from chemical constituents found in Mexican yams...
to manufacture therapeutic steroid
Steroid
A steroid is a type of organic compound that contains a characteristic arrangement of four cycloalkane rings that are joined to each other. Examples of steroids include the dietary fat cholesterol, the sex hormones estradiol and testosterone, and the anti-inflammatory drug dexamethasone.The core...
s from the Mexican yam.
Syntex chemists synthesized cortisone
Cortisone
Cortisone is a steroid hormone. It is one of the main hormones released by the adrenal gland in response to stress. In chemical structure, it is a corticosteroid closely related to corticosterone. It is used to treat a variety of ailments and can be administered intravenously, orally,...
from diosgenin
Diosgenin
Diosgenin, a steroid sapogenin, is the product of hydrolysis by acids, strong bases, or enzymes of saponins, extracted from the tubers of Dioscorea wild yam, such as the Kokoro...
, a phytosteroid contained in Mexican yams. This synthesis was more economical than the previous Merck & Co.
Merck & Co.
Merck & Co., Inc. , also known as Merck Sharp & Dohme or MSD outside the United States and Canada, is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. The Merck headquarters is located in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, an unincorporated area in Readington Township...
synthesis, which started with soy products.
Syntex was integrated into the Roche group
Hoffmann-La Roche
F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. is a Swiss global health-care company that operates worldwide under two divisions: Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics. Its holding company, Roche Holding AG, has shares listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange....
in 1994.
Prominent researchers
- Russell Marker co-founded the company in 1944. In May 1945, realizing that he was being left out of the company's profits, he left the company. When he took his notebooks, the company was unable to continue producing progesterone because Marker had done the synthesis himself and had coded the reagent bottles.
- George RosenkranzGeorge RosenkranzGeorge Rosenkranz is a Mexican scientist in steroid research and a professional bridge player. He was born in Hungary, educated in Switzerland and lived in Mexico for 66 years...
had studied at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and was conducting pharmaceutical research in Cuba. He joined Syntex in 1945 to replace Marker. He hired Djerassi in 1949. - Carl DjerassiCarl DjerassiCarl Djerassi is an Austrian-American chemist, novelist, and playwright best known for his contribution to the development of the first oral contraceptive pill . Djerassi is emeritus professor of chemistry at Stanford University.He participated in the invention in 1951, together with Mexican Luis E...
went to work at Syntex in 1949 as the associate director of chemical research. He remained there through 1951, leaving to join the faculty of the Chemistry Department at Wayne State University (Detroit, Michigan) starting in 1952. - Alejandro ZaffaroniAlejandro ZaffaroniAlejandro Zaffaroni is a serial entrepreneur who is responsible for founding several successful biotechnology companies in Silicon Valley....
developed procedures for identifying and separating steroids using paper chromatography while studying at the University of Rochester, and joined Syntex as a research biochemist in 1951. He became vice-president in 1956, and was appointed president of Syntex's U.S. subsidiary in Palo Alto, California in 1962. - Luis E. MiramontesLuis E. MiramontesLuis Ernesto Miramontes Cárdenas , was a Mexican chemist known as the co-inventor of the progestin used in one of the first two oral contraceptives....
moved from UNAMUnamUNAM or UNaM may refer to:* National University of Misiones, a National University in Posadas, Argentina*National Autonomous University of Mexico , the large public autonomous university based in Mexico City...
to Syntex in 1950 as a researcher under Djerassi. He performed the first synthesis of an orally active progestinProgestinA progestin is a synthetic progestogen that has progestinic effects similar to progesterone. The two most common uses of progestins are for hormonal contraception , and to prevent endometrial hyperplasia from unopposed estrogen in hormone replacement therapy...
on 15 October 1951. The steroid 19-nor-17 alpha-ethynyltestosterone, with the generic name of norethistrone or norethindrone, was the first orally active progestin, which led to the development of the first oral contraceptives. - Jerzy RzedowskiJerzy RzedowskiJerzy Rzedowski Rotter is a Mexican botanist. He was born in Lwów, Poland .While he was young he was made prisoner by the Germans. He remained in a concentration camp until World War II finished and he was liberated by the Allies...
worked as an explorer botanist. He later became the most prominent plant scientist in Mexico. - Ralph DorfmanRalph DorfmanRalph Isadore Dorfman, was a Jewish American biochemist. His work on metabolism in pharmacology and the use of steroid hormones contributed to the development of the combined oral contraceptive pill....
Joined the company as a consultant in 1960, eventually serving as President of Syntex Research from 1967–1973
Birth control pill
Syntex submitted its compound to a laboratory in Madison, WisconsinMadison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
, for biological evaluation, and found it was the most active, orally-effective progestational hormone of its time. Syntex submitted a patent application in November 1951. In August 1953, G.D. Searle & Co. filed for a patent for the synthesis of the double-bond isomer 13 of norethindrone called norethynodrel. Norethynodrel is converted into norethindrone under acidic conditions, such as those in the human stomach
Stomach
The stomach is a muscular, hollow, dilated part of the alimentary canal which functions as an important organ of the digestive tract in some animals, including vertebrates, echinoderms, insects , and molluscs. It is involved in the second phase of digestion, following mastication .The stomach is...
, and the new patent did not infringe on the Syntex patent. Searle obtained approval to market norethynodrel before Syntex received its approval. By 1964 three 3 companies including Syntex were marketing 2-mg doses of the Syntex norethindrone.