1 Answers
Ruthenium anti-cancer drugs are coordination complexes of ruthenium complexes that have anticancer properties. They promise to provide alternatives to platinum-based drugs for anticancer therapy. No ruthenium anti-cancer drug has been commercialized.
Since 1979, when Cisplatin entered clinical trials, there has been continuing interest in alternative metal-based drugs. The leading ruthenium-based candidates are BOLD-100 and TLD-1433. Other ruthenium based therapeutics that have been tested clinically include NAMI-A and KP1019. The first ruthenium-based drug to enter clinical trials was NAMI-A. More ruthenium drugs are still under development. Ruthenium complexes as anticancer drugs were originally designed to mimic platinum drugs for targeting DNA, but emerging ruthenium compounds have shown a variety of mechanisms of actions, which include ROS generation, and as Endoplasmic reticulum stress agents.