The present invention relates to cleomycins, antibiotics belonging to the phleomycin-bleomycin group, which have antitumoral and antimicrobial activities and are useful as a chemotherapeutic agent for treating cancer and bacterial infections.
As antibiotics belonging to the phleomycin-bleomycin group the followings are known: bleomycins recovered in a known way from a liquid culture medium of Strepmyces verticillus [Umezawa, et al., Journal of Antibiotics, 19 210 (1966)]; bleomycins produced by use of a culture medium admixed with an amino compound as a precursor (U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,846,400 and 4,195,018); bleomycins described in DT-OS 2,828,933; bleomycins N-substituted at the terminal amine (U.S. Pat. No. 3,922,262); phleomycins produced by Streptmyces verticillus 843-1 ATCC 21890 [Umezawa, et al., Journal of Antibiotics, A9, 82 (1956)]; zorbamycin produced by Streptmyces bikiniensis var. zorbonesis [Argoudelis, et al., Journal of Antibiotics, 24, 543 (1971)]; YA-56 substance produced by Streptmyces humidus var. antitumoris [Furumai et al., Journal of Antibiotics, 24, 727 (1971)]; tallysomycin produced by an actinomycete, Streptoalloteichus [Kawaguchi et al., Journal of Antibiotics, 30, 779 (1977)]; platomycin produced by an actinomyces, Streptosporangium violaceochromogenes sub. sp. globophilum [Takazawa et al., Journal of Antibiotics 28, 662 (1975)]; zorbonomycin produced by Streptomyces bikiniensis var. zorbonensis [Argoudelis et al., Journal of Antibiotics, 24, 543 (1971)]; and victomycin produced by Streptosporangium violaceochromogenes [Kawamoto et al., Journal of Antibiotics, 28, 358 (1975)].