Background:

Batimastat (also known as BB-49), [4-(N-hydroxyamino)-2R-isobutyl-3S-(thiopen-2-ylthiomethyl)-succinyl-_L-phenylalanine-N-methylamide, is a potent and synthetic inhibitor of a broad spectrum of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), including interstitial collagenase (IC₅₀= 3 nM), stromelysin (IC₅₀= 20 nM),? M_r72,000 type IV collagenase (IC₅₀= 4 nM), M_r92,000 type IV collagenase (IC₅₀= 4 nM), and matrilysin (IC₅₀= 6 nM). It is a low-molecular-weight (MW = 478) and peptide-like collagen substrate analogue consisting of a peptide backbone and a hydroxamic acid group which bind to MMPs and the catalytically active zinc atom respectively. Batimastat exhibits antineoplastic and antiangiogenic activity in various tumor models, including ovarian carcinoma xegnografts and human colon tumor.

Reference

[1].Bernard Davies, Peter D. Brown, Nick East, Michael J. Crimmin, and Frances R. Balkwill. A synthetic matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor decreases tumor burden and prolongs survival of mice bearing human ovarian carcinoma xenografts. Cancer Research 1993; 53: 2087-2091
[2].X. Wang, X. Fu, P.D. Brown, M. J. Crimmin, and R. M. Hoffman. Matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor BB-94 (batimastat) inhibits human colon tumor growth and spread in a patient-like orthotopic model in nude mice. Cancer Research 1994; 54: 4726-4728
[3].Raffaella Giavazzi, Angela Garofalo, Cristina Ferri, Valeria Lucchini, Elisabeth A. Bone, Stefania Chiari, Peter D. Brown, M. Ines Nicoletti, and Giulia Taraboletti. Batimastat, a synthetic inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinases, potentiates the antitumor activity of cisplatin in ovarian carcinoma xgenografts. Clinical Cancer Research 1998; 4: 985-992