What is "calicheamicin"

n. Any of a class of enediyne antibiotics derived from the bacterium ''Micromonospora echinospora'', extremely toxic to all living cells and used in targeted therapy against cancer.

The calicheamicins are a class of enediyne antitumor antibiotics derived from the bacterium Micromonospora echinospora, with calicheamicin γ1 being the most notable. It was isolated originally in the mid-1980s from the chalky soil, or "calichi pits", located in Kerrville, Texas. The sample was collected by a scientist working for Lederle Labs. It is extremely toxic to all cells and, in 2000, a CD33 antigen-targeted immunoconjugate N-acetyl dimethyl hydrazide calicheamicin was developed and marketed as targeted therapy against the non-solid tumor cancer acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Calicheamicin γ1 and the related enediyne esperamicin are the two of the most potent antitumor agents known.