penicillamine

[ pen-uh-sil-uh-meen, -min ]

noun

, Pharmacology.

1. a chelating agent, C 5 H 1 1 NO 2 S, produced by the degradation of penicillin, used in the treatment of severe rheumatoid arthritis and in heavy metal poisoning.

Word History and Origins

Origin of penicillamine¹

First recorded in 1940–45; penicill(in) + -amine

Example Sentences

Retrophin, which currently markets hypertension drug Vecamyl and metabolism treatment Chenodal among others, is developing drugs for a number of rare diseases including rage disorders, schizophrenia and infantile spasms. The company in May acquired the U.S. marketing rights to a potentially lucrative drug for treating a rare kidney disease, and raised its full-year forecast. Shkreli said on a conference call after the deal that the drug, Thiola, then sold for $4,000 a year per patient, would be priced closer to rival drug penicillamine, which costs $80,000 to $140,000.

From BusinessWeek

At Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, Drs. Daniel Wallace, James Klinenberg and Dennis Goldfinger worked with twelve patients with severe rheumatoid arthritis, for whom medications, including gold and penicillamine, provided no relief.

From Time Magazine Archive