Discovery and development of direct Xa inhibitors Xa was identified as a promising target for the development of new anticoagulants in the early 1980s. In 1987 the first factor Xa inhibitor, the naturally occurring compound antistasin, was isolated from the salivary glands of the Mexican leech "Haementeria officinalis". Antistasin is a polypeptide and a potent Xa inhibitor. In 1990 another naturally occurring Xa inhibitor was isolated, tick anticoagulant peptide (TAP) from extracts of the tick "Ornithodoros moubata". TAP and antistasin were used to estimate factor Xa as a drug target. Blood coagulation is a complex process by which the blood forms clots. It is an essential part
Peptide T peptide T as a treatment for HIV/AIDS and Alzheimer's Disease and sues the FDA over their efforts to limit his ability to use Peptide T, as it was an unapproved medicine. Additional information on Woodroof's court challenge to the FDA related to his obtaining access to Peptide T can be found in the article by Marsha Cohen in Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly (vol.18:471) Cohen, 1991. Woodroof's challenge was in part responsible for the 1987 revisions to the FDA investigational drug regulations that expanded access to experimental drugs for patients with serious diseases with no alternative therapies. Peptide T Peptide T