An efficient new synthesis has been demonstrated for (-)-ovalicin, a natural product that strongly inhibits new blood vessel growth. The compound has potential for inhibiting development of solid tumors by cutting off their blood supply. The asymmetric synthesis makes it possible to produce (-)-ovalicin in high yield, opening up a practical route to the generation of more active analogs. The synthesis was developed by Nobel Laureate E. J. Corey and coworkers Angel Guzman-Perez and Mark C. Noe of the department of chemistry at Harvard University [ J. Am. Chem. Soc. , 116 , 12109 (1994)]. Corey's synthesis of (-)-ovalicin is the latest, chapter in a story that begins with another compound, fumagillin. In 1985, Judah Folkman, a cell biology professor at Harvard Medical School, and Donald Ingber, a postdoctoral fellow, accidentally discovered that a fungus growing in their laboratory inhibited new blood vessel growth (angiogenesis). With assistance from Takeda Chemical Industries ...