Advanced Technologies for Large Scale Supply of Marine Drugs

Marine organisms represent a source of unique chemical entities with valuable biomedical potentialities, broad diversity, and complexity. It is essential to ensure a reliable and sustainable supply of marine natural products (MNPs) for their translation into commercial drugs and other valuable produ...

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Main Authors: Henar Martínez, Mercedes Santos, Lucía Pedraza, Ana M. Testera
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-02-01
Series:Marine Drugs
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/23/2/69
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author Henar Martínez
Mercedes Santos
Lucía Pedraza
Ana M. Testera
author_facet Henar Martínez
Mercedes Santos
Lucía Pedraza
Ana M. Testera
author_sort Henar Martínez
collection DOAJ
description Marine organisms represent a source of unique chemical entities with valuable biomedical potentialities, broad diversity, and complexity. It is essential to ensure a reliable and sustainable supply of marine natural products (MNPs) for their translation into commercial drugs and other valuable products. From a structural point of view and with few exceptions, MNPs of pharmaceutical importance derive from the so-called secondary metabolism of marine organisms. When production strategies rely on marine macroorganisms, harvesting or culturing coupled with extraction procedures frequently remain the only alternative to producing these compounds on an industrial scale. Their supply can often be implemented with laboratory scale cultures for bacterial, fungal, or microalgal sources. However, a diverse approach, combining traditional methods with modern synthetic biology and biosynthesis strategies, must be considered for invertebrate MNPs, as they are usually naturally accumulated in only very small quantities. This review offers a comprehensive examination of various production strategies for MNPs, addressing the challenges related to supply, synthesis, and scalability. It also underscores recent biotechnological advancements that are likely to transform the current industrial-scale manufacturing methods for pharmaceuticals derived from marine sources.
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series Marine Drugs
spelling doaj-art-65af8ba4c449486182f6a54f201b5ddf2025-08-20T02:03:28ZengMDPI AGMarine Drugs1660-33972025-02-012326910.3390/md23020069Advanced Technologies for Large Scale Supply of Marine DrugsHenar Martínez0Mercedes Santos1Lucía Pedraza2Ana M. Testera3Department of Organic Chemistry, School of Engineering (EII), University of Valladolid (UVa), Dr. Mergelina, 47002 Valladolid, SpainDepartment of Organic Chemistry, School of Engineering (EII), University of Valladolid (UVa), Dr. Mergelina, 47002 Valladolid, SpainDepartment of Organic Chemistry, Science Faculty, University of Valladolid (UVa), Paseo de Belén 7, 47011 Valladolid, SpainDepartment of Organic Chemistry, School of Engineering (EII), University of Valladolid (UVa), Dr. Mergelina, 47002 Valladolid, SpainMarine organisms represent a source of unique chemical entities with valuable biomedical potentialities, broad diversity, and complexity. It is essential to ensure a reliable and sustainable supply of marine natural products (MNPs) for their translation into commercial drugs and other valuable products. From a structural point of view and with few exceptions, MNPs of pharmaceutical importance derive from the so-called secondary metabolism of marine organisms. When production strategies rely on marine macroorganisms, harvesting or culturing coupled with extraction procedures frequently remain the only alternative to producing these compounds on an industrial scale. Their supply can often be implemented with laboratory scale cultures for bacterial, fungal, or microalgal sources. However, a diverse approach, combining traditional methods with modern synthetic biology and biosynthesis strategies, must be considered for invertebrate MNPs, as they are usually naturally accumulated in only very small quantities. This review offers a comprehensive examination of various production strategies for MNPs, addressing the challenges related to supply, synthesis, and scalability. It also underscores recent biotechnological advancements that are likely to transform the current industrial-scale manufacturing methods for pharmaceuticals derived from marine sources.https://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/23/2/69total synthesisaquaculturechemoenzymatic synthesisfermentationex vivo biosynthesiscell factory
spellingShingle Henar Martínez
Mercedes Santos
Lucía Pedraza
Ana M. Testera
Advanced Technologies for Large Scale Supply of Marine Drugs
Marine Drugs
total synthesis
aquaculture
chemoenzymatic synthesis
fermentation
ex vivo biosynthesis
cell factory
title Advanced Technologies for Large Scale Supply of Marine Drugs
title_full Advanced Technologies for Large Scale Supply of Marine Drugs
title_fullStr Advanced Technologies for Large Scale Supply of Marine Drugs
title_full_unstemmed Advanced Technologies for Large Scale Supply of Marine Drugs
title_short Advanced Technologies for Large Scale Supply of Marine Drugs
title_sort advanced technologies for large scale supply of marine drugs
topic total synthesis
aquaculture
chemoenzymatic synthesis
fermentation
ex vivo biosynthesis
cell factory
url https://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/23/2/69
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AT mercedessantos advancedtechnologiesforlargescalesupplyofmarinedrugs
AT luciapedraza advancedtechnologiesforlargescalesupplyofmarinedrugs
AT anamtestera advancedtechnologiesforlargescalesupplyofmarinedrugs