Purified hematoporphyrin dimers and trimers useful in photodynamic therapy

摘要

Pure dimer and trimer compounds of hematoporphyrin are prepared and shown to be effective agents in photodynamic therapy. The compounds of the invention are of the formula IMAGE (1) or IMAGE (11) IMAGE IMAGE (2-A) IMAGEOMe HCNHMe NMeMeHO MeHNCO2R NMeCO2R+RE wherein each X is independently 1-hydroxyethyl or vinyl and wherein R is H or lower alkyl. The compounds of the invention can be conjugated to targeting substances such as immunoglobulins or to labels.