Butantan Surfactant

Butantan Surfactant is a porcine-derived pulmonary surfactant developed by the Instituto Butantan in collaboration with the University of São Paulo. It is a biologic therapy composed of natural phospholipids and hydrophobic proteins (SP-B and SP-C) extracted from pig lungs using a specialized low-cost maceration and adsorption process involving diethylaminoethyl cellulose (DEAE-C). The drug is specifically designed to treat respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) in premature infants by replacing deficient endogenous surfactant. Its primary mechanism of action involves reducing surface tension at the alveolar air-liquid interface, which increases lung compliance and prevents alveolar collapse during expiration. Clinical trials have demonstrated that it is a safe and effective alternative to more expensive commercial surfactants like Survanta and Curosurf, showing comparable mortality rates and incidence of major complications of prematurity.

Other names

Butantan porcine surfactantButantan pulmonary surfactantInstituto Butantan pulmonary surfactant