Volume :

2

Issue :

2

Abstract :

Lucinactant is a novel synthetic surfactant, approved by the FDA on March 6th 2012, for use in treatment of RDS. It’s superiority as compared to the previously approved surfactants lie in containing sinapultide, a 21-amino acid peptide also known as KL4 peptide, which has been designed to mimic the activity of human surfactant protein. Lucinactant is completely devoid of any animal derived components. It is the fifth drug approved by the FDA for the treatment of RDS. It has shown immense efficacy in phase two clinical trials and animal model studies and exhibited better efficiency when compared to other surfactants in both 24 hour and two week mortality rates of infants in RDS. Lucinactant tends reduce the surface tension at the air-liquid interface of alveolar surfaces and allows lungs to function normally. It was observed that the side effects were lesser with Lucinactant when compared with other naturally derived surfactants.