Pulmonary Surfactant - Artificial Surfactants

Artificial Surfactants

Synthetic pulmonary surfactants

1. Exosurf - a mixture of DPPC with hexadecanol and tyloxapol added as spreading agents
2. Pumactant (Artificial Lung Expanding Compound or ALEC) - a mixture of DPPC and PG
3. KL-4 - composed of DPPC, palmitoyl-oleoyl phosphatidylglycerol, and palmitic acid, combined with a 21 amino acid synthetic peptide that mimics the structural characteristics of SP-B.
4. Venticute - DPPC, PG, palmitic acid and recombinant SP-C

Animal derived surfactants

1. Alveofact - extracted from cow lung lavage fluid
2. Curosurf - extracted from material derived from minced pig lung
3. Infasurf - extracted from calf lung lavage fluid
4. Survanta - extracted from minced cow lung with additional DPPC, palmitic acid and tripalmitin

Exosurf, Curosurf, Infasurf, and Survanta are the surfactants currently FDA approved for use in the U.S.